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About Liberia

About Liberia

Map of Liberia

Liberia is a country on the western African coast whose capital is Monrovia. Sierra Leone lies on the northwest border, the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest, and Cote d’Ivoire to the east of this 43,000 sq. mi. land. The land itself is primarily flat, with plains along the coast and small mountains further inland. Liberia has a tropical climate: in the winter there is little rain and temperatures range greatly over the course of a 24-hour day, whereas the summer is monsoon season.

Roughly 3,440,000 people live in Liberia. The median age of the population is only 18 years, and a Liberian is expected to live only about 42 years. Yet more disturbing is the fact that the country has the sixth highest mortality rate in the world (approximately 21 deaths per 1,000 people), and the world’s fourth highest infant mortality rate (approximately 139 deaths for every 1,000 live births). All members of the population are at very high risk for contracting major infectious diseases.

Liberian Flag

The history of Liberia is inextricably tied to that of the United States: “Liberia was purchased in 1822 by the American Colonization Society (ACS) as a destination for American freed slaves and was the closest the United States ever came to taking a colony in Africa” (Blue Clay People, 4). Those former slaves who emigrated to this new land have become known as Americo-Liberians, as distinct from an existing population of native peoples belonging to 16 different ethnic groups (Kpelle, Bassa, Gio, Kru, Grebo, Mano, Krahn, Gola, Gbandi, Loma, Kissi, Vai, Dei, Bella, Mandingo, and Mende). In 1847, these new settlers formed a republic that in many ways paralleled the aristocratic slave culture from which they emigrated in the US. “Under the black colonial aristocracy that emerged, 99 percent of the population of indigenous Africans…were disenfranchised and forced to labor on Americo plantations” (BCP, 21).

Despite the fact that it is a relatively young country, Liberia has experienced a succession of momentous epochs that have at times threatened or destroyed its stability as a republic as well as the continuation of the peaceful coexistence of its diverse array of ethnic groups. In brief, Liberia’s history proceeds as follows:

  • 1944-1971: The Era of Americo Presidents: During this time an aristocratic relationship was forged between the native peoples and the Americo-Liberian settlers. A major priority for the Liberian presidents in this era was to encourage foreign investment in Liberia.
  • 1980-1989: The Era of Samuel Doe and His Legacy: Samuel Doe led a coup against the existing government. An authoritarian regime that ruled for nearly emerged in the wake of the destruction of the republic.
  • 1989-2003: The Era of Charles Taylor and the Liberian Civil War: Charles Taylor, who had been trained in Libyan terrorist camps, and others rebelled against the authoritarian regime, thereby ushering in a period of civil war. Samuel Doe was killed in the height of the unrest, and “[w]hile the war officially ended with the 1997 elections (which Taylor won by a landslide, campaigning under the promise that if not elected, he would restart the war), Taylor continued to sponsor Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels” (BCP, 12). By 2000 Liberia was once again in the grip of civil war.
  • 2003- : Beyond Civil War and Towards Civil Reconstruction?: The historical tide turned once again for Liberia in 2003, with the signing of a peace treaty that signified the end of the civil war. This document also removed Charles Taylor from his position of power within the country. After a period of transitional government, the current Liberian president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was elected in 2005.

The cessation of civil war and the election of a new president surely serve as signs that progress towards peace in Liberia has been made. Nevertheless, major issues remain unresolved, for “although civil unrest continues to abate with the assistance of 18,00 UN Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) peacekeepers, as of January 2007, Liberian refugees still remain in Guinea, Cote d’Ivoire, Sierra Leone, and Ghana” (CIA World Factbook). In addition, the sixteen indigenous ethnic groups in the land continue to coexist uneasily at best; tensions, resentment, and the desire for revenge loom as a constant threat amongst these people who were used as political pawns over the course of Liberia’s history. Mediators without Borders explains that “[t]wenty-three years of active fighting – with families scattering or turning on each other, and constantly shifting factions exacting revenge through torture, pillaging, and coercing innocents into committing atrocities – damaged hundreds of thousands of Liberians and destroyed the systems that could support their recovery. An entire generation has lived solely in survival mode, with little or no knowledge of family, community, self-support, rule of law, or education” (Trauma Healing Concept Paper).

In the years since the end of the Liberian civil war, some promising efforts have been made towards healing and reconciling the lives of individual Liberians. One NGO, Mediators Beyond Borders, “works with a myriad of Liberian organizations and civil society and traditional leaders to contribute to building a stable peace, so that the vast suffering inflicted neighbor-on-neighbor will never be repeated. Mediators Beyond Borders’ experience in the sub-region began with rehabilitating former child soldiers in a refugee camp, a project that has successfully repatriated the young men and women and is seeing them through safe reintegration into community” (Trauma Healing Concept Paper). Now MBB hopes to provide similar rehabilitation services for many communities in Liberia, benefitting the many different sorts of people who were victimized by the years of war in their country. They also intend to offer conflict resolution training and country-wide trauma healing interventions. MBB will also work with Liberian women, encouraging them to achieve a higher social and economic standing within their communities.

Another NGO, Population Caring Organization, takes a more holistic approach, recognizing that “still much more is needed to consolidate the effort at the community and tribal level, in order to build a sustainable and lasting peace” (Project Liberia – Peace and Conflict Resolution). PCO aims toward the four-fold target of conflict prevention, containment, transformation, and termination by striving to understand and focus its efforts on the various ways in which groups of Liberians can come at odds with each other. Beginning in May 2003, PCO’s objectives have manifest themselves through work with the Buduburam refugee camp, where they have actively promoted discussion about war prevention and the furtherance of peacemaking activities. Through various means, they have worked with children, adults, and tribal leaders. The aim at present is to continue and expand PCO’s efforts in Liberia.

Global Citizen Journey is developing a 2010 delegation to Liberia that will work in conjunction with Emmanuel Dolo’s Population Caring Organization. To learn more about GCJ’s upcoming project and host, please click here.

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Project and Host

logos-combined.jpg

Project and Host

What is the Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative?

 

Global Citizen Journey (GCJ) is partnering with Population Caring Organization (PCO) and other local organizations in Liberia to launch the Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative (LPI).  We convened a series of trainings where for Peacebuilders to engage in learning, network, sharing of stories and envisioning a future that works for all Liberians.  In our ‘pre-trip’ visit in January, 2010, we began building a network of support.  With the help of a number of NGOs we will select key participants who have had previous training and experience in facilitation, conflict resolution and mediation so they can more readily integrate what we offer.  We seek participants who are involved with existing networks to leverage the learning and spread the experience more widely.  Plus the participants need to have deep roots in their local community, to build this network from the grassroots.  This approach develops what leading Peacebuilder John Paul Lederach refers to as a “middle-range approach to peacebuilding” — working with a set of leaders who can provide the key to creating an infrastructure for sustaining peace.

We will carefully constitute these teams to insure they reflect the diversity of Liberia: 16 ethnic groups, men and women, range of ages, religious affiliations, location, rural and urban, former combatants, and former refugees.   We will incorporate traditional practices to promote healing and reconciliation. There will be Post Summit follow-up and support so trained Peacebuilder Teams can bring what they have learned to their communities.

Why launch the Liberian Peacebuilder Initiative?

Years of brutal civil conflict have left Liberia with a traumatized population and a devastated infrastructure. Although peace has been secured at a governmental level, conflicts and tensions at the community level and the trauma and wounds from the years of violence still threaten to disrupt the fragile post-conflict situation. There is a tremendous need for community based leaders to build inter-ethnic trust, to learn the skills of non-violent conflict resolution, reconciliation and collaborative networking – the foundations for democracy, development and a sustainable peace. Experts acknowledge that peace must be built at the grassroots level as well as at the higher, official levels of treaties and agreements; the tendency to leap ahead with economic development without a concomitant focus on individuals and local conditions often results in a reversion to violence. It is fair to say that there are few Liberians whose lives were unaffected by the civil conflict:  therefore any conflict resolution training must include processes that allow for the clearing of pain and emotionality created by the trauma.  (read more)

What will happen at the Summits?

Day 1 and 2:  Workshops and training in Compassionate Listening* and conflict resolution*, sharing and building on traditional practices, hearing each other’s stories*

Day 3:  Training in Restorative Circles* that are intended to repair the relationships damaged by conflict and allow for reconciliation

Day 4:  Town Meeting sessions using large group dialogue processes (World Café* and Open Space Technology*) for sharing perspectives around such questions as: “How do we honor our traditions while reaching beyond them for a Liberia that works for all?”; “What do we need to reach true reconciliation and healing?”  “What are the challenges and opportunities to create the future we want for our children?” “What are simple actions for economic development and self-sufficiency (e.g. growing gardens and selling produce, or a simple business like selling baked goods)?”

Day 5:  Action plans and commitments for working in home communities. Closing ceremonies and rituals*

Cultural and Evening Activities*:  Traditional cultural sharing at the opening, closing ceremony and nightly with music, storytelling, dancing, and other activities that have traditionally brought people together.

Post-Summit Activities: Each Peacebuilder Team (traditional, youth and woman leader from the various ethnic groups) will implement an action plan for creating small community meetings* and Town Meetings in their home community.

Small Community Meetings:

  • Report on the Summit
  • Offer training, practices and exercises in Compassionate Listening and conflict resolution.
  • Show the videotaped stories from the Restorative Justice  Circle in those communities having access to electricity.
  • Facilitate discussions, and gather and record comments, inputs and suggestions from all participants. (Note: these comments will be in reports and shared at the next Summit, once it is funded.)
  • Establish agreements for continuing to meet within the local community.

Town Hall Meetings: The Peacebuilder Team will be encouraged to convene a Town Hall in their community to discuss local concerns

(click here for details on *starred items of what happens at the Summits)

Host: Population Caring Organization

The Liberian Peacebuilder Initiative is being launched by GCJ in partnership with Population Caring Organization, founded by Emmanuel Dolo, at the Budumbura Refugee Camp for Liberians in Ghana, just outside of Accra.  From 2003 to 2008, PCO established community Peace Cells (dialogue circle gatherings) in the refugee camp reaching hundreds of community members and helping to resolve the many cases of conflict that arise in an overcrowded and traumatized population.  These discussion groups focused on domestic violence; community conflict; national and ethnic violence; misunderstandings and hatred; and how to build capacity for reconciliation – including strategies for ex-combatants and child soldiers.  In December 2005, PCO brought together elders and traditional leaders from the 16 ethnic groups in a reconciliation ceremony that marked 15 months of intense peace-building dialogue in the Liberian Tribal Leaders’ Reconciliation Forum (LTLRF). They are eager to integrate these practices and many of their re-patriated colleagues and elders back in Liberia.  Emmanuel believes it is essential for outsiders to come and work with him and others to build true peace –at the  grassroots level, i.e. from the bottom up rather than governmental declarations.  The peace is fragile because Liberia does not have its own security force – and thus depends upon the UN.  It is difficult to develop its own security force when there is so little trust among the various ethnic groups.

Read the latest update from PCO – December 2009 through May 2010 report.

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Transpartisan USA

BuildingBridges Across the Partisan Divide

Global Citizen Journey is working with Transpartisan Alliance-Seattle to discover ways to build a civil bridge across the huge gap between us –left and right, progressive and conservative. By coming together in an ongoing way, with monthly Salons, participants gain a better understanding of each other’s thinking, perceptions, and perspectives.  We are seeking areas of common interest and identifying ways in which we can act together as a Citizen’s Assembly.

**A valuable resource:Watch an enlightening video that gives insight into the fundamental values of left and right:  Ted Talk:  Jonathan Haidt on the moral roots of liberals and conservatives


**Dialogue Across Ideological Dividesby DeAnna Martin & Susan Partnow

Do you wonder why dialogues seem to narrowly attract “progressives” and especially of a certain age, white, and middle class? At the 2008 National Conference on Dialogue and Deliberation, DeAnna Martin and Susan Partnow attended a panel of speakers who consider themselves “conservatives” to help us understand. Here are some of the things we heard and lessons learned:  they yield much to ponder for endeavors to bridge our many divides

First, there are concerns and fears that tend to turn conservatives off to dialogue. These fears create barriers to showing up if conservatives feel they have to:

Give up the Truth… If dialogue assumes all truths are relative, it is an unwelcome environment for someone who has fundamentalist convictions about right and wrong.

Be coerced towards some hidden agenda… Questions come up about what the ultimate goal of dialogue really is: to convince me of something? To get me involved in some sort of larger social change? Is there really an authentic space for conservative views?

Be changed… perhaps this is connected to a hidden agenda to convince me that my views are wrong?

One way that individuals in the evangelical community have found their way through these fears is by engaging in what they call, “Convicted civility.”  Individuals engage in dialogue, sharing candidly about where they are convicted, from their place of The Truth, while the other seeks to understand – ‘living the friendship, not the argument.’ (Learn more: Greg Johnson, professing Christian, and Robert L. Millet, lifelong Mormon, co-authored  Bridging The Divide: The Continuing Conversation Between A Mormon And An Evangelical, c. 2007)

We learned that conservatives may be turned off by how the dialogue is framed. Particular triggers for conservatives are words like:

  • ·        “sustainability” – is there some intent to coerce me to become an environmentalist?
  • “global warming” – versus a more conservative framing “energy security”
  • “community organizing” – is code for someone telling me what to do, I don’t need to be organized
  • “consciousness” – should only be used in a boxing match to assess is he conscious or not…
  • “progressive” – implies you’re more evolved than me, I’m stupid
  • “grassroots” – must mean a Trojan horse end-run around the system
  • “civic engagement” – must be some kind of agenda you want everyone to get involved in

Second, there are certain values that shed light on what conservatives find important. By looking at these we can understand better how to appeal across divides to bring people together. Some of the values expressed by panelists were:

  • Self-Governance – I am responsible for myself, my family and my community all within a democratic republic
  • Personal Responsibility – when dialogues emphasize government as the only answer, rather than each of us making up our own minds about how we can take care of ourselves, our families, and our neighbors
  • Voluntary Cooperation – coercion of any kind, whether that be an expectation to come up with something we all agree to or a hidden agenda to convert, is the antithesis of this

So let’s consider these insights as they relate to how we approach our many dialogue efforts.

Frame & Identify Issues We Have in Common

Dialogue can be framed as a desire to understand and know each other and must include all aspects of the self, including religious values. We must find nonpartisan issues we all care about, such as transparency, integrity, and accountability. These issues might stem from where there is a felt need to link political will with deliberation, then be careful about how decision makers are involved in the cycles of discussion and be transparent about everyone’s commitment and role in the process.

Be Careful about Liberal Blind Spots

Taking our cue from the trigger words shared previously, we must find language that doesn’t assume we intend to evolve people to a particular end, organize them, or that limits our scope for what and who is ultimately responsible. Cultivate humility… Be willing to let go of our own agendas and accept that we have more to learn and understand.

Define Dialogue as Part of Broader Civic Engagement

Respect that each of us is self-governing and we are self-governing together… Be open to seeing the free market as civic engagement, i.e. in a free market businesses are figuring out what people want and providing it. Dialogue in our civic engagement is about integrating the values of the republic with the needs of the republic.

Emphasize Non-Coercive Outcomes

Dialogue as an end in itself, not about reaching some pre-determined outcome. Just the talking is valuable without the pressure to generate some kind of agreement or shared outcome. Sell the mapping of the issues, rather than an outcome… deeper understanding, empathy, and connection to what this issue looks like from many perspectives. So the outcome is discovery. Mutual respect and appreciation – humanization. Self understanding to be more personally responsible. Emphasize that it’s not about seeking change.

Demonstrate Value in Terms of Enhancing Social Capital

Dialogue creates opportunities for connections where none existed before, which builds the health and vitality of a community – essential to safety and security.  Express how  conversations with others gives life to the expression, “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Listening to our Conservative speakers and panelists was stimulating, mind opening and humbling.  We hope sharing these thoughts with you will serve us all in broadening our conversations to include more diversity of thought, which will ultimately serve us all in moving forward in this complex world.

DeAnna J Martin

Executive Director | Center for Wise Democracy | 206-459-8429 | deanna@wisedemocracy.org | www.WiseDemocracy.org

Senior Associate | Jim Rough & Associates, Inc. | 206-965-8498 | deanna@dynamicfacilitation.com | www.DynamicFacilitation.com

Susan Partnow

Co-Founder, Conversation Week www.conversationcafe.org

Founding Director, Global Citizen Journey www.globalcitizenjourney.org

Sr. Facilitator, Compassionate Listening, www.compassionatelistening.org

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Oporoza attacked, library still standing

As you may have heard, Oporoza (the site of our Nigeria Journey) has been under attack. As far as we know the library is still standing. For more information and updates, follow these links to articles and interviews with Mary Ella Kebulsek and Joel Bisina. Look for mp3 files to hear the interviews. These websites are also following the events in the Niger Delta closely: www.stakeholderdemocracy.org and www.sweetcrudemovie.com.

Earthbeat Radio: The True Cost of Oil

Voice of America News: Yar’Adua, Militants Trade Feelers for Niger Delta Amnesty

Voice of America News: Mounting Niger Delta Tensions Fuel Calls for Ceasefire

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Liberia 2011

Liberia 2011

Liberia in the world

Project and Host

GCJ partnered with a Liberian NGO to launch the Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative (LPI) with a mission to build a community-based network to foster conflict resolution, reconciliation, and sustainable peace.  We formed Peacebuilder Teams from communities in the NE Counties that included elders, women and youth. They came together to share and learn skills (traditional practices, Compassionate Listening, Restorative Justice, large group dialogue), exchange experiences, and co-create a peaceful future for all Liberians. Peacebuilders share the tools learned in their home communities, then returned to deepen their relationships and share their learnings with the other teams in a second series of trainings.  Teams represent Liberia’s diversity to build understanding and trust across deep divides of age, ethnicity, class and gender. Read more about project and host here.

About Liberia

Civil war has left Liberia traumatized and devastated.  Conflict easily erupts at fault lines such as weakened respect for elders, ethnic tensions, and integration of refugees and ex-combatants.  There is a tremendous need for local leaders to experience and learn skills for inter-group trust, nonviolent conflict resolution, reconciliation and collaborative networking – the foundations of democracy, development, and a sustainable peace. LPI builds capacity to manage tensions at the grassroots, beyond Monrovia, and takes a powerful step towards creating a healthy Liberian national identity. The need was urgent in the face of imminent Presidential elections and drawdown of UN forces. Read more about Liberia here.

LPI – Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative

GCJ was the grateful recipient of a matching grant from the now defunct Foundation for Global Communtiy as well as the estate of a longtime friend and supporter, Marilyn Saunders. Through  the generosity of our supporters (THANK YOU ONE AND ALL), we were able to launch a scaled-down version of the Liberia Peacebuilder Initiative in Spring, 2011, with $20,500.  We based our efforts in Monrovia and developed a core group of 35 diverse Peacebuilders.

Our partner organization, Population Caring Organization (PCO), helped us build powerful relationships with local groups. They worked on additional monthly events  to expand the reach of the Peacebuilder Initiative. Click here to read PCO’s full report.

Related Links

Read more

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April 2008


News from Global Citizen Journey

Global Citizen Journey
Issue: 12
 April, 2008
Dear Susan,

After
careful consideration, we’ve decided to postpone our Burundi Journey to
next summer. With growing excitement we can see that this decision will
give us the
time we need to “get it right,” especially concerning the water
project which needs much deeper study. By taking a step back from
the pressure of deadlines and fundraising limitations, we’ll have a
chance to better understand what it is that the neighborhood of
Carama needs from us, and we’ll be more fully able to provide it.

We are exploring a pre-journey scouting trip with several
delegates this summer, from the designated Water Team
(see below) and a Town Hall Team, to investigate and lay the
proper groundwork for an extraordinary journey in 2009.

This is good news for us, but do you
know the best news? If you’ve been interested in going to Burundi
but didn’t feel as though you had enough time for fundraising and
preparation, you have another chance to join the 2009 delegation!

To find out more, please don’t
hesitate to contact us via email or phone, and feel free to join us
at the next orientation session on Monday, May 12th, from 5:15 to 7:00.
We’d love to see you there!

Peace,

Global Citizen Journey

 

Sweet Crude Team Returns to the U.S.

We are thankful to report that the four American Sweet Crude
filmmakers have been safely returned to the U.S. after being detained
by the Nigerian military while traveling in the Niger Delta.  Joel
Bisina, founder of GCJ partner Niger Delta Professionals for
Development, has returned to his home in Warri, and should be coming to
the U.S. in early May.

Director Sandy Cioffi, producer
Tammi Sims and photojournalists Sean Porter and Cliff Worsham were in Nigeria
to finish the documentary Sweet Crude, about the effects of oil production on
the people and environment of the Niger Delta.

Thank
you to everyone who helped secure their release by spreading the word,
and to the U.S. lawmakers who worked for mutual understanding with the
Nigerian government.

Quick Hits:


GCJ in the News!  Word about Global
Citizen Journey’s work is spreading! Check out what the Bellingham Herald and
the Ballard News-Tribune
have to say.

AGRA Watch:  Global
Citizen Journey is helping to gather a number of individuals and organizations
around shared concerns regarding the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa
(AGRA)-the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation
initiative now chaired by former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. 
Given our commitment to being fully engaged citizens and the presence of this
major Foundation in our backyard, we feel called to pay close attention to what
is happening from the perspective of what will serve our brothers and sisters
in Africa and our planet. GCJ seeks to spur integration of the learning from
the failures of the first so called Green Revolution – now reflected in the
tragic suicides of farmers in India and the industrialization of food
production in the US.  Our first objective is education of ourselves and the
public around AGRA.  We will seek ways to engage in dialogue with the
Gates Foundation to exchange visions and concerns as well as to call for them
to be transparent and accountable to the public –including in Africa– around
their policies, alliances, and priorities.  We will seek direction from African
small farmers regarding AGRA .  Also, we aim to utilize this issue as a
opportunity to network with all Puget Sound area groups dealing with Africa and
international concerns, especially around agriculture and food security. 

You are welcomed to join this group: sign up for the
agraconcern list at https//:lists.riseup.net and you will receive notification
of meetings and additional resources to read.

We have posted a number of key resources and background
reading around this issue on our website.

Update on Carama Water Project

Water Team reports their findings

In preparation for our Burundi journey,
a dedicated Water Team has been created for the purpose of
investigating great options for bringing water to Carama, and to
gather, sort and process the huge amount of information on the
subjecThe people of Caramat.
Last week Brock, Wes, Deborah and Prosper consulted with
Llyn, a hydrologist who works with Engineers Without Borders. 
They determined that a complete water
and sanitation plan is something that the village needs and GCJ would
like to make that an explicit goal of our journey.  Prosper will
work with the Carama village to establish a Water & Sanitation
Team when gets back later month, and together we will identify a
series of phases for this larger project and identify the first high
priority components that we can focus on within the resources we can
raise.  Several of our US Water Team members hope to go to
Carama this summer to investigate and coordinate more fully so that we
can be ready with a clear plan of action and wise priorities for summer
’09.


With
another full year to study the project, we are committed to doing our
research.  We have learned that the water table in the area is
very high, which has helped us focus on a few different solutions, such
as digging a well (with the high water table, manual digging may be
sufficient) or pulling and filtering water from a nearby river. 
We are preparing a comparison of solar, diesel, manual and filtering
approaches with a goal to include all start-up costs and maintenance
costs, as well as making sure that the project is as green as possible.

If you have any interest or expertise in this area, please
consider lending us a hand!  Contact Brock Blatter,
brockb@amaazi.org, for more information.


Connecting Young People Across the Globe

Marysville 3rd graders connect with Oporoza students

An update from Ryan Hauck, a former GCJ
delegate to the An Oporoza ClassroomNiger Delta in 2005 who has not only maintained the
connection he made, but who has also paved the way for his students
to connect.

Ryan’s work has helped to establish a
new connection between Quil Ceda (Marysville) elementary school and
the primary school in Oporoza, Nigeria. A 3rd grade class
at the elementary school wrote letters to 23 primary students in
Oporoza after Ryan went into the class and showed slides, discussing
life in Oporoza, and teaching the receptive students some Ijaw
language and a popular Nigerian song.

Ryan then traveled for the fifth time
back to Nigeria this past November, laden with the unbelievable
amount of clothing, books, school supplies, toiletries, medical
supplies, PE equipment, toys, etc., that were donated by the parents
of the 3rd grade class. Once in Oporoza, he spent a great
deal of time in the primary school, teaching a lesson and helping the
students to respond individually to each of the letter written from
the Quil Ceda 3rd graders. (The Quil Ceda 3rd
graders have since responded, and their letters were taken back to
Oporoza by Joel Bisina)

Meanwhile, thkidse high school students at
Marysville-Pilchuck High School are continuing to establish their
“sister-school” relationship with students in the Secondary
School in Oporoza. Currently they are in the process of raising
funds to support the purchase of novels, poetry, and non-fiction
books that are part of the Nigerian curriculum, but are not available
to the students there.

Now that there is a working internet system in
Oporoza, students at MPHS are looking forward to more regular
communication and building on the relationship they have been
cultivating. There is a possibility of using a joint curriculum from
the Giraffe Project, which is centered around service learning and
empowers students to learn from authentic voices who have been a
catalyst for change. This curriculum hopes to give students the
background and skills to be actively engaged in the local and global
communities to initiate positive change.

Ghana Update

Fourth return to Axim for GCJ Ghana Project Director
GCJ
Ghana Project Director Maryanne and Rich Ward made their 4th return to
Axim this Spring. This time, they were able to live and eat in the
Western Heritage Home we partnered in building, now filled with 21
lively (pOur children standing in front of the Western Heritage Homearentless)
children.  Maryanne & Rich brought 14 computers, 35 chess
sets, and lots of books and puzzles in their luggage, which captivate
the children thoroughly – perfect for this rainy season.  Western
Heritage Home is flourishing and the computer center is taking
shape.  Other spin-off projects such as the Veronica buckets and
water sanitation plans are also making progress. Many of our Ghanaian
GCJ delegates from 2006 are now very involved in the home, and
spearheading work on other related projects in Axim.  There is a
great sense of Ghanaians and North Americans trusting each other and
working together, with a deep sense of empowerment and inspiration

From
Maryanne’s journal:  “Perhaps this is the time to describe the
children.  What we see we consider no less than remarkable. 
The staff have done an incredible job.  They work together on the
daily basics – food, clothing, health, sleep, affection.  The
children are generally calm, clean, and affectionate and considerate
with each other.”  

Western Heritage Home Plaque
home from school together. The children got quite excited when
theyMaryanne’s heart was filled with joy one day when they were walking
could see the roof. “We’re almost home,” they shouted.  What a
joyous manifestion of GCJ’s mission and the hard work of all our GCJ
community and delegates!  (Check out the GCJ Ghana blog for continued updates).

Top photo: The orphans pose in front of the newly completed Western Heritage Home building.

Bottom photo:  A plaque at the Western Heritage Home honoring the GCJ Ghana Journey delegates.

In This Issue
Sweet Crude team returns to the U.S.
GCJ Quick Hits
Update on Carama Water Project
Oporoza Sister Schools
Ghana Update
Get to Know GCJ
Quick Links

burundian flag
Join us in Burundi in Summer 2009.
Find out more.


auction
Upcoming Events
Want to get to know GCJ?  Join us on Monday May 12th from 5:15-7 for an informal conversation and video presentation. (email for more directions).

Check out our website for
an updated list of events!

Picnic in the Park!

Join
us this summer for a picnic in the park.  The date is still
uncertain, but we’re currently choosing between two Saturdays: July 12th or the 19th,
GCJ delegates, volunteers, alumni and friends are all welcome to a day
of food, fun, dancing, games and storytelling (location TBA). 
Mark it on your calendar, and stay tuned for more details!


Do You Have A Story To Share?
We’re
in the process of collecting delegate stories to add to our website,
and to use in order to help future delegates prepare for a
Journey.  Are you a former delegate with a story to shore? 
Let us know!
Photos from past and continuing journeys
A student band in Oporoza

A student band practices in Oporoza, Nigeria.

Our children standing in front of the Western Heritage Home

Students in front of the Western Heritage Home, Axim, Ghana.

ceremony wedge

A ceremonial feast for GCJ delegates in Oporoza.

A student studying in Oporoza

A student studies in Oporoza.

A man in Ghana

A man in Ghana poses for the camera.

A finished home in Burundi built by JRMD/YRWD.

oporoza women

Women in Oporoza.

A child in Ghana

A child in Ghana, wears a shirt made from cloth created in honor of GCJ (the white seal on his right arm is our logo!)

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/by

Atlee-Evolving 

From: Tom Atlee [mailto:cii@igc.org] 
Sent: Thursday, July 17, 2008 8:54 AM
To: undisclosed list
Subject: Evolving into a Bigger Us with Nature

Dear friends,

One of the main trends in evolution is towards more inclusive whole  
systems -- the evolution of entities which "include and transcend"  
more primary entities.

One popular map of this hierarchy of inclusion goes as follows:
   *  Atoms include -- and are "more than" -- subatomic particles.
   *  Molecules include -- and are "more than" -- atoms.
   *  Cells include -- and are "more than" -- molecules.
   *  Complex animals and plants include -- and are "more than" --  
cells.
   *  Societies include -- and are "more than" -- us individuals who  
make them up.

In the last several hundred years, human societies and systems have  
developed and spread to global proportions.  As we have collectively  
reached and encountered the limits of Earth and the demands of  
relationship in order to function, it is becoming increasingly  
obvious that there is no "Other" and no "Away".  We are all  
interdependent kin, alive together here in this one planetary home.

We Are All. In This. Together.

Martin Luther King, Jr., declared forty years ago:

     We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality,
     tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects
     one directly, affects all indirectly."

And people around the world now celebrate Interdependence Day <http:// 
www.co-intelligence.org/interdependenceday.html> instead of  
Independence Day.

Evolutionary pressure is building to include more varieties of  
people, species, and living systems within our definition of "us".

I recently ran across two very intriguing news items I share with you  
below:  First, Ecuador's Constitutional Assembly is proposing that  
natural communities and ecosystems have rights, thus initiating the  
first national legal system to include rights for both human and  
natural communities.  Second, the Spanish Parliament voted last month  
to grant limited legal rights to our closest biological relatives,  
the great apes -- chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans, thus  
becoming the first nation to give legal rights to other species.   
Both of these pioneering initiatives go beyond laws governing animal  
abuse and species extinction, two earlier steps on the path.

We also find new sciences like permaculture and biomimicry embodying  
an emerging respect for and partnership with the wisdom of nature.   
Some interesting videos -- which you'll find at the end of this  
posting -- also indicate an increasingly positive relationship with  
nature.

This process of envisioning an increasingly inclusive and functional  
"us" is and will be slow for society overall.  While as individuals  
we can realize the one-ness of all creation in an instant of insight,  
a society has to incorporate such a realization into the fabric and  
logic of its functioning as a complex system.  That takes some  
reflection, creativity, trial and error, conflict...

It is not an easy task.  We've seen it with the anti-slavery, civil  
rights, and human rights movements even within our own species.  But  
it is becoming increasingly obvious that rejecting our kinship with  
other organisms and natural systems is killing us.  So our  
relationship with nature is now a matter of grave and growing concern.

I find it useful to view this building up of such pressure in,  
around, and among us as a natural evolutionary process, a marker of  
impending transformation, part of a story that has been going on for  
13.7 billion years -- a story, signficantly, that we are very much  
active players in.  Evolution wasn't something that happened way back  
when, that has nothing to do with us.  Evolutionary Transformations R  
Us.

Similarly, I find it instructive to contemplate how human culture  
emerged into self-consciousness out of embeddedness in nature.  Early  
human cultures honored and ritualized the human relationship, not so  
much with nature as an abstraction, but with the living beings,  
organisms, and systems of their local place and experience -- and  
they had (and have) a very inclusive sense of what is "alive".  As  
human society grew more complex, breaking into interwoven functional  
roles and expanding into ever-complexifying civilization, our  
experience of nature has become more distant, abstract,  
materialistic, utilitarian, and our honoring of the source of Life  
has shifted into mystical, theistic, or Western scientific modes of  
engagement -- with all the resulting blessings and disasters we now  
see all around us.  Evolution has thus brought us, step by step, face  
to face with the challenge of weaving vital human-nature connections  
newly for our more complex societies.  We are about to become a new  
form of life.  Together.  Do it or die.

Millions of efforts by Life to create more inclusive living systems  
don't work out, and go extinct.  The one we're involved in demands --  
and has available to it -- a much broader palette of individual and  
collective human consciousness than Life has ever had before --  
different varieties and levels of individual and collective  
awareness, intelligence, wisdom, compassion, choice, etc.  That's the  
Big Picture of the work so many of us are involved in.

The impulse for inclusion is blowing in the wind.  What we do with it  
will make all the difference in the world.  Especially for the human  
species.

And time is of the essence.

Coheartedly,
Tom

===============

Ecuador Constitutional Assembly Votes to Approve Rights of Nature In  
New Constitution

July 7, 2008

http://tinyurl.com/6jpepp

Today, the <http://www.celdf.org/>Community Evironmental Legal  
Defense Fund (CELDF) announced that Ecuador became the first nation  
in the world to shift to rights-based environmental protection. There  
was a time when people were considered property (slaves) and this  
idea is no longer generally accepted in the developed world. Yet,  
Ecuador is the first country to begin to codify in its Constitution  
the concept that nature is not just property, but has an inherent  
right to exist.

On July 7, 2008, the Ecuador Constitutional Assembly - composed of  
one hundred and thirty (130) delegates elected countrywide to rewrite  
the country's Constitution - voted to approve articles for the new  
constitution recognizing rights for nature and ecosystems. "If  
adopted in the final constitution by the people, Ecuador would become  
the first country in the world to codify a new system of  
environmental protection based on rights," stated Thomas Linzey,  
Executive Director of the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund.
...
Over the past year, the Legal Defense Fund has been invited to assist  
Delegates to the Ecuador Constitutional Assembly to re-write that  
country's constitution. Delegates requested that the Legal Defense  
Fund draft proposed Rights of Nature language for the constitution  
based on ordinances developed and adopted by municipalities in the  
United States.

The Legal Defense Fund has now assisted communities in Pennsylvania,  
New Hampshire, and Virginia to draft and adopt new laws that change  
the status of natural communities and ecosystems from being regarded  
as property under the law to being recognized as rights-bearing  
entities.

Those local laws recognize that natural communities and ecosystems  
possess an inalienable and fundamental right to exist and flourish,  
and that residents of those communities possess the legal authority  
to enforce those rights on behalf of those ecosystems. In addition,  
these laws require the local governments to remedy violations of  
those ecosystem rights. In essence, these laws represent changes to  
the status of property law, eliminating the authority of a property  
owner to interfere with the functioning of ecosystems and natural  
communities that exist and depend upon that property for their  
existence and flourishing. The local laws allow certain types of  
development that do not interfere with the rights of ecosystems to  
exist and flourish.

In the past, I've been involved in <http://www.celdf.org/>CELDF's  
Democracy School programs in Seattle and written about this kind of  
<http://www.onenw.org/toolkit/onelist/is-rights-based-organizing-a- 
future-strategy-for-environmental-activism/>rights-based organizing  
for ONE/Northwest's newsletter. It makes good background reading on  
the Democracy School movement. You can also watch a lecture by  
<http://www.idealog.us/2006/08/thomas_linzey_l.html>CELDF's Thomas  
Linzey given in Seattle in 2005 on YouTube.

Ecuador's efforts stand in stark contrast to what happened in <http:// 
www.nader.org/opinions/oe6.19.96.html>South Africa's Constitution  
where transnational corporations were able to push through clauses  
giving corporation the same rights as people.

==============

WHEN HUMAN RIGHTS EXTEND TO NONHUMANS
By Donald G. McNeil Jr.
New York Times
July 13, 2008

<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/13/weekinreview/13mcneil.html>

...The environment committee of the Spanish Parliament [voted] last  
month to grant
limited rights to our closest biological relatives, the great apes --
chimpanzees, bonobos, gorillas and orangutans.

The committee would bind Spain to the principles of the Great Ape  
Project
<http://www.greatapeproject.org/>, which points to apes' human  
qualities,
including the ability to feel fear and happiness, create tools, use
languages, remember the past and plan the future. The project's  
directors,
Peter Singer, the Princeton ethicist, and Paola Cavalieri, an Italian
philosopher, regard apes as part of a "community of equals" with humans.

If the bill passes -- the news agency Reuters predicts it will -- it  
would
become illegal in Spain to kill apes except in self-defense. Torture,
including in medical experiments, and arbitrary imprisonment,  
including for
circuses or films, would be forbidden.

The 300 apes in Spanish zoos would not be freed, but better  
conditions would
be mandated.

What's intriguing about the committee's action is that it juxtaposes two
sliding scales that are normally not allowed to slide against each  
other:
how much kinship humans feel for which animals, and just which "human
rights" each human deserves.

We like to think of these as absolutes: that there are distinct lines
between humans and animals, and that certain "human" rights are  
unalienable.
But we're kidding ourselves.

In an interview, Mr. Singer described just such calculations behind the
Great Ape Project: he left out lesser apes like gibbons because  
scientific
evidence of human qualities is weaker, and he demanded only rights  
that he
felt all humans were usually offered, such as freedom from torture --  
rather
than, say, rights to education or medical care.

Depending on how it is counted, the DNA of chimpanzees is 95 percent  
to 98.7
percent the same as that of humans.

Nonetheless, the law treats all animals as lower orders. Human Rights  
Watch
has no position on apes in Spain and has never had an internal debate  
about
who is human, said Joseph Saunders, deputy program director.

"There's no blurry middle," he said, "and human rights are so woefully
protected that we're going to keep our focus there."

Meanwhile, even in democracies, the law accords diminished rights to  
many
humans: children, prisoners, the insane, the senile. Teenagers may  
not vote,
philosophers who slip into dementia may be lashed to their beds,  
courts can
order surgery or force-feeding.

Spain does not envision endowing apes with all rights: to drive, to bear
arms and so on. Rather, their status would be akin to that of children.

Ingrid Newkirk, a founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
<http://www.peta.org/>, considers Spain's vote "a great start at  
breaking
down the species barriers, under which humans are regarded as godlike  
and
the rest of the animal kingdom, whether chimpanzees or clams, are  
treated
like dirt."

Other commentators are aghast. Scientists, for example, would like to  
keep
using chimpanzees to study the AIDS virus, which is believed to have  
come
from apes.

Mr. Singer responded by noting that humans are a better study model,  
and yet
scientists don't deliberately infect them with AIDS.

"They'd need to justify not doing that," he said. "Why apes?"

Spain's Catholic bishops attacked the vote as undermining a divine  
will that
placed humans above animals. One said such thinking led to abortion,
euthanasia and ethnic cleansing.

But given that even some humans are denied human rights, what is the  
most
basic right? To not be killed for food, perhaps?

Ten years ago, I stood in a clearing in the Cameroonian jungle, asking a
hunter to hold up for my camera half the baby gorilla he had split and
butterflied for smoking.

My distress -- partly faked, since I was also feeling triumphant, having
come this far hoping to find exactly such a scene -- struck him as  
funny. "A
gorilla is still meat," said my guide, a former gorilla hunter  
himself. "It
has no soul."

So he agrees with Spain's bishops. But it was an interesting  
observation for
a West African to make. He looked much like the guy on the famous  
engraving
adopted as a coat of arms by British abolitionists: a slave in shackles,
kneeling to either beg or pray. Below it the motto: Am I Not a Man,  
and a
Brother?

Whether or not Africans had souls -- whether they were human in God's  
eyes,
capable of salvation -- underlay much of the colonial debate about  
slavery.
They were granted human rights on a sliding scale: as slaves, they were
property; in the United States Constitution a slave counted as only
three-fifths of a person.

As Ms. Newkirk pointed out, "All these supremacist notions take a  
long time
to erode."

She compared the rights of animals to those of women: it only seems  
like a
long time, she said, since they got the vote or were admitted to medical
schools. Or, she might have added, to the seminary. Though no Catholic
bishop would suggest that women lack souls, it will be quite a while  
before
a female bishop denounces Spain's Parliament....
/by

Ghana Blog, Page 5

Monday, April 30, 2007

Hi, all
Another day about half over. Met with Annie, Esi, and Anastasia this am in Bentil’s office. Discussed many things, including all of you GCJ alums! Esi discussed the news that the government is taking over Manye JSS, but not the primary. However the problem? is that the gov’t won’t allow Manye to collect fees from people so they have only 30,000 cedis per child per year to work with (30,000 cedis is about $3.50 US!) What the govt does is charge for taking exams, as much as 40000 per exam, and if you don’t pass, you pay again. I guess that’s how they improve their revenue situation. The gov’t school is providing textbooks, but Manye teachers don’t like the textbooks, etc. etc. etc.
Said Hi to Bentil, too, and others who just dropped in. Then, we took off with Thani in taxi to “the site”. I’d been there at 9:30–no M Biney (MB), just a few workers kind of hanging out. I was there at 11:30 and he had just come—but that’s James’ problem. I’m not here to supervise. Meanwhile, since Annie, Essi, and Anastasia had a “car”, we of course stopped at various places, delivered 6 bags of cement to someone, etc.! But it was fun. Then we WALKED from the site to Manye, and I can vouch personally that ‘s a pretty good trail, needs a little weeding in places, but it is owned by Manaye, who have promised to clean it up. It took exactly 10 minutes, stopped twice to talk and also Anastasia didn’t have the greatest walking shoes, so we’re fine on that. It ends in a small settlement, with friendly people, a not very busy road, and there’s the school. So, I’m happy about that—I think all the kids will just scamper to school in 5-10 minutes probably.
Then I came home and have been working on James’ computer all pm. Have managed to update XP and Internet Explorer, but problems with the virus checker. (Windows LiveOneCare). It says it’s seriously in need of updating, but I can’t do it. Well, I’ll try Leif now and then and see if we can’t make a connection. Tomorrow I’ll probably get anastasia’s cmputer and bring it here to work on.
My room is fne—small, but adequate. Tomorrow I’ll walk to the site. PLEASE UNDERSTAND I CAN READ YOUR EMAILS BUT CANNOT EMAIL OUT. Also, the wireless here is not working, so I’m on ethernet, which might be the problem. LEIF: DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEAS? The guy here is really pretty good, but on this he can’t figure it out. I remember Susan had the problem before at the i-net cafes, but I don’t know if it ever got resolved.
Also, Rich, I think it’s fine it people just read the blog now on their own and you don’t send the emails—would be better. I’ll try to update pretty often.
I forgot to say yesterday that I had the program from Barbara’s ordination, and the K’s and I sang all the songs together—they knew all the tunes, although they were a little shaky on “ode to Joy”. Also, Charles showed up, so he’s still here. And I showed them the photo of the joyful Barbara—I’ll try to post it.

thanks Rich for updating people, but I think they can look at the blog now, which would be better. Hope all is well there. I had a sad moment at breakfast, looking at the dining area without all my friends, and also thinking about Renee, my dear cousin. How alive and wonderful she was and how I’ll miss her.
Also, I found a better spot for cell phone reception, thanks to Mike—my “place” is not good, but he showed me the “best” place.
I think we’ll have rain tonight.
Good to see everyone today—a nice welcome and time to catch up, while walking and riding around town. Mahara, if you’re reading this, they call Thani “Mr. Mahara”!!!
Love you all, Maryanne

posted by Maryanne at 9:27 AM xx



Sunday, April 29, 2007

To continue…
Gifty dropped in to the K’s home and she and I and Justine spent a couple of hours discussing her work with the women’s microlending program. Diana, we gave her what came to 690,000 cedis (James waited so I could give it to her), plus the other things you sent. She seems to be getting a handle on the whole thing. She and James have agreed that she will carry out the women’s entrepreneurship part of the WCHH mission in Axim, starting with the women who met when we were there, and seeing who is really energized. She was very enthusiastic, but said it would be difficult to start at first, because she’ll have to start the groups and meet with them frequently. She was about 71 groups going, at various stages. She explained the whole process, which is a bit much to type here, but it’s a very interesting way of organizing where the group itself takes the risk (5-25 in a group) but loans are individual from 1M to 5M cedis. They pay back weekly at 14% interest which they thought was very low. She has a guy who has written a software program for her to track all this—a specialized program. I met him, but we had to rush and I would have liked to have talked with him a lot more. I also met one of hr staff members, in her office, which is really quite nice and modern looking.

Meanwhile, Frank was thrilled with Leif’s passing one of the computers onto him. I have brought Quicken to work with Anastasia, and also a copy for Frank. He can use it himself, and also to coach her, if needed. He loved the book, Suz, on digital photography, and also the Photoshop Elements that leif had suggested. He was just bubbling over with enthusiasm and energy—good to see! His Govt’ service is going well, and as a bonus he is learning the Ghanaian tax code, which can’t hurt.

James and Justine loved the fabric we sent—I’ll pass out the rest as I see people.
Yesterday, J and J and I spent about 6 hours in a meeting about WCHH, where we are going, getting me up to date, etc. It was an excellent session. Justine is getting very involved, and has good insights, esp. as to staff, and children. Very helpful. I can’t type it all out, but I’m taking lots of notes on my computr and will give the GCJ alums a “report” when I return.

So, here I am. I think I’ll close off now. I just found out via email that one of my very favorite cousins has just passed away unexpectedly—kind of hard when you’re sitting here so far away. But I have a lot to do here. Tomorrow, I’ll start. By the way, Mr. Elimah (sp?) called James one day and James told him I was there. He asked to speak to me and was very cordial and asked me to meet with him. So that’s a good Town Hall followup place to start, probably. The Dist. Social Welfare man wants to see me, too. Also, Chamsou is coming on May 10 for three days! So, that’s great news. And according to what Patrick told James, “two white ladies” showed up at the site last week!! Who, I wonder? I’m curious. I asked James if Patrick had asked where they were from, but evidently he was too flumoxed by this unlikely event to get any facts.

So, James has turned over to me all receipts, account books, etc., and tomorrow pm i will start to work on that, and hopefully in a few days, when I’ve figured out things, I’ll start to work with Anastasia. WCHH Board will probably meet soon, before Chamsou comes.
Enough for now. Thank goodness I’ve connected. I admit to feeling a little guilty about enjoying water and electricty—gifts from God. I did kind of go back to my early farm days, when we carried all out water, etc., but it takes a while.
Did I mention it’s HOT here?? Yes, it is, but it’s good to be here, to connect again, and feel so much support for our project from the King to all I meet. So, next time. Love you each and all, whoever is reading this! Maryanne

posted by Maryanne at 10:49 AM xx




To resume…
James and Justine were upbeat, positive, and their usual optimistic selves. This in spite of nearly no electricity going on for months now, and no tap water at all for the last nearly 4 weeks. Daughters Elfrieda, and Maureen, and nieces Edna and Linda, carried water from the tap across the street into the house for 2-3 hours day—on the head pans. The amount of work created by this situation is really daunting. Ravyn’s headlamp and wind-up flashlight were an ENORMOUS hit. I wish I had brough a dozen. They immediately put them to use. Justine is baking 100 loaves a day about in her gas oven downstairs, but when it’s dark, she can’t, but last night she baked them with the headlamp on. I helped some. She is making a delicious “tea bread” that she’s able to sell readily. We delivered them around to shops and they were gone in minutes. So that’s going well, as is her mining uniform business.
James can get internet in spite of all this, if his battery is charged, but there’s something wrong with his computer. We tried to run the virus checker, etc., but no luck. I took it with me to Axim. The wireless is down here (I’m on ethernet now), but when it’s up I’ll start plugging away at it, proably with Leif’s help.
On Friday I was surprised to learn that we were going to a durbar! It seems the vice president of Ghana himself, a Muslim by the way, was coming to Nkroful to dedicate a development project—turning Nkforful SS into a science and technology high school!! Much investment! Gifty’s husband is THE HEADMASTEr, so this was great. Anyway, our lower Axim Trad. Council people were there and I was very warmly welcomed. I was invited to wear “the cloth”, but I declined because it was so terribly hot, and I didn’t want to draw a lot of attention to myself, either. There was not only our own little group, of the King and council of elders and thier wives, etc., but also about 12 other trad. councils plus all the elccted officials from Mr. Elimah on up to the VP himself. AND, Marcus Garvey, the son of Marcus Garvey was honored. A good day of lots of pomp and circumstance, warm welcomes, dancing, drumming, etc. I’m going to post so I won’t lose this.

posted by Maryanne at 10:39 AM xx




Hi all.
Whew. Finally I’m at an internet connection, but it’s none too good, so we’ll see. I arrived in Ghana almost a week ago, and was met by Frank and James. Went to Quass Hotel, and next morning headed for Sekondi. I’ve been with James and Justine in their home until this morning, when we came to Axim, and I’m now in the NEW internet/business center at the ABH. Sadly all the staff we knew, but Mike, are gone. I think there’s a story, but Mike won’t tell me—all new people–nice but new. Michael Biney, James, and Sammy the carpenter just left. They spent the morning with the king, Mr. and Mrs. Abbey, and worked out the rest of the contract with Mr. Biney taking over. The touchy business of finishing off the roof, etc. is left, and Biney is an expert, as his carpenter in roof joining, etc., so it’s for the best. He is very enthuastic about the building. I hosted a lunch at the ABH hotel just now for Michael, James, and Sammy, as a way to welcome the new contract, etc.
The hotel now has solar hot water panels next to many of the huts. Anyway, I’m going to post this, to make sure I don’t lose it, and then I’ll go back to other news.
Maryanne

posted by Maryanne at 10:33 AM xx



Tuesday, November 14, 2006

x
x
x
x
Re-entry… and some photos!
Many of us are back, adjusting to the re-entry, reverse culture shock (gleaming bathrooms with hot water, showers and consistently flushing toilets, for example)… while Leif, Rich, Jerome, Louise, Tom, Barbara and Diana continue to enjoy further exploration of Ghana.

What an incredible journey! Filled with inspiration, learning, challenges and amazing successes… We’ll be writing insights, lessons, etc. over the next weeks…

This is just a short message to upload a few photos:
**the orphans: what a thrill to meet them (at our introduction to the lower king of Axim) — and dance with them! The Board of the Western Christian Heritage Home will have to take on the daunting task of identifying those in greatest need, as the number of applicants exceeds the capacity of the orphanage.
**the mattresses: US delegate Jeannie raised the funds for these greatly needed mattresses for the hospital — now patients can rest in comfort to recover better.
**the orphanage worksite: we enjoyed a great (though very hot and sweaty) day of work on the site with North American and Ghanaian delegates plus a number of the women from the town. By the time we left, the second story was well under way.
**Town Hall: an extraordinary day of inspiration and empowerment, with over 150 diverse voices heard from townspeople, envisioning the desired future for Axim and exploring the challenges that need to be dealt with.

posted by Maryanne at 1:03 PM xx



Tuesday, November 07, 2006

Tuesday, Kumasi

Let’s do some quick catch up,

Saturday:
Barbara G spoke with Womens Aglow group here, and Maryanne went with her.

Others went for wade in water to get into a boat that took us to the island with the Axim light house. Most climbed to top of light house for a grand view back to Axim and out to sea, and watched the fishing boats ride the waves in and out of the bay. James K really gave of himself as he carried Jerome from land to boat to load, off load on island, and then reverse back to mainland. What a gentle soul we’ve seen in James K.

Afternoon to Nzulezu Village. Took over an hour bus ride, then an hour row boat ride with heavy oars, to reach the village that is built on stilts in the water. Then hour boat ride back, and long bus home.

Sunday:
Rich spoke at a Methodist church in town, and several delegates went to hear.
Delegates coming and going, starting to pack.
Jerome visited a family at the hospital, as the wife had been in car collision north of Axim and had double amputation of legs. He went to give hope since he’s here and doing fine after his own amputation.

Closed the GCJ time in Axim with circle and speaking highlights with each other. The King of Lower Axim came to bid us farewell and thank us fo all that had been done with the orphanage, the town hall meeting, all the help given throughout Axim community. He passed out our certifiates for the American delegation with our Ghanaian names they’d given us the Saturday before and made us honorary citizens.
Closing dinner was a huge baracuda fish — very good!

Monday:
Back on American time now, departed hotel about 5 minutes late, rather than our typical waiting 1/2 hr or more to start things in Ghana time.
Bus to Takoradi, where James K, Barbara and Susan P were at SKYY news station for interview for TV. We’d already learned that the prior Saturday celebration with Lower Axim King and chiefs had been on national TV showing all the hospital mattresses that Jeanie had spear headed as a sub-project for this trip.
While the three interviewed, most of us stood in line exchanging anything we had for Ghana currency at Foreign Exchange.
Lunch with Catherine R from Bellingham who’s living north of Cape Coast and runs a travel agency there to support an orphanage with funds; and then on the bus again.
On to Kakum National Rain Forest — and a walk on the canopy walk high in the trees.

Arrived into Kumasi last night at hotel about 10:30pm. The drive north to Kumasi in the evening was filled with a long and wonderful electric storm show off in the sky to west. Arriving at hotel, we all worried about bus clearing the entry with the luggage on top. The security guys outside said not to worry. Then we heard a “crunch”, and ended up backing out. Thankfully not our luggage, but it had go the ladder at back of bus. Alll were tired, and went quick to bed. Rumors this morning of Tuesday is that somehow Tom and Louise got the hotel’s honeymoon suite last night, though we were all supposed to have similar rooms.

Annie and Anna Esi came with us from Axim to be with us in Kumasi.

Tuesday:
Breakfast of a tasty omelette, toast, jam, oatmeal, and the coffee or milo that we drink.
Group split into 3 groups for market morning.

One group met up with Elizabeth and Charlotte, who live in Kumasi, relatives of friend back in Seattle. How wonderul that Charlotte guided the one group through market for purchases before going to palace museum. This market is like none other in world. Huge! so many stalls of small 1-2 person businesses. Food, meat, clothing, fabric, jewelry, shoes, household, just goes on and on. Tight quarters also, as most opted out sooner than the alloted whole time because of claustraphobia. Of the world travelers in our group, none had seen or experienced anything like this market.

Tonight after dinner we meet Charlotte Abaka, a Ghanaian woman who is highly regarded in areas of Human Rights, and helping Liberia with trying to stabilize and set up infrastructure. She is representative to UN for Liberia from Ghana.
Then we lose Jerome and Rich who head north tomorrow, and Anna Esi and Annie back to Axim.

Best to all, and prayers. And especially family and friends back in Washington State where the internet news shows there is record rain and rivers flooding.

Signing off,
Diana blogging for the group.

(Sorry for any typos — difficult keyboard here.)

posted by Maryanne at 9:06 AM xx



Saturday, November 04, 2006

Greetings from Axim Sat evening, 11/4

Blogging for the group’s big day is Diana.

Dear family and friends,

Breakfast started here at hotel with Administration of secondary school coming to breakfast to award and give gifts to Jackie J and Jerome C for their work in the secondary schools here this week. About 4 came from the school administration to make the presentation. How great it was to see our current and retired teachers in the delegation honored.

Susan H had organized through Bentil that we be able to go into the water with boat this morning. So most of N. American delegation went, and some of Ghanaian delegation who were in a boat for the first time in their lives. We left the Axim beach, wading into the water to get to the boat and on it, with lots of little kids around playing in the water. Headed to Bebo Ayeze Island out in the bay where the Ghana Ports and Harbour Lighthouse sits. We saw trees with bird nests, hanging upside down, and yellow birds flying around. Some said from canary family. Most of us climbed the very steep 3 flights of curved stairs to top of light house for magnificent views and pictures. One could look back to the Castle of Axim which had been used to house slaves before deporting them. In between Bebo Ayeze Island and the castle, there was a small island that we learned earlier was where the slaves were led to through a tunnel to be put on boats, never to return again. In more current years, that castle has been used for some administration offices. We also could see the colorful flags on boats flying as boats road waves in and out to the sea. (We saw their catch later on when on the beach.)

Upon returning to the beach, we waded through the water again to dry sand, and there was a porpoise that had been caught — by accident. A tuna had been on the line, and the porpoise had gone for the tuna and swallowed the hook. Around the beach, the catch of the day was being distributed, and women cutting up some fish. The meat looked like a wine color of red.

While on the boat trip, Barbara G and Maryanne W went to Women’s Aglow meeting where Barbara spoke this morning. They reported a good session with the women.

After lunch, all but two of us in Amercan delegation and most in Ghanaian delegation headed by bus to Nzulezu village. To get there, we rode about 1 hr, then had to canoe via canals and a lake, paddling about 1 hr, 4 or 5 of us to a boat. This village is well known because it is on stilts in the lake. Once there, we walked the “main path” above the water with their housing and school rooms along the way. Primary education is done there, older goes out somewhere to school. Protocol always means you visit the chief, and tell him of your visit. Our Ghanaian friends gave the chief a bottle (probably gin), and then translated some history the chief told us about. Originally the people here were from Mali, elsewhere in Africa, and came here and settled to avoid war. Intermarriage occurred over many years, and now they call themselves Ghanaians. Returned via the boats, and more paddling (and these paddles are of very heavy wood!) and got rained on. Here in these boats a few of our new Ghanaian friends from Axim in the delegation came, and it was also their first time in boats, hanging on tightly, and first time to Nzulezu.

Arrived back at hotel about 7:30pm, it gets dark here at 6pm being on the equator. Full moon tonight is shining brightly. Then all ate dinner, and Jerome led the group in a “talent show night”

Tomorrow Rich will be giving the sermon at a Methodist church. Others are going to various churches and spending their last day in Axim. The Monday morning departure early will come too soon. Sunday evening the District Executive is coming and hosting a banquet at our hotel restaurant for our last night together.

How can it be that we leave Axim on Monday? So soon!! We’ll all cherish tomorrow and our last visits with folks here. Monday will be drive to Kumasi via lunch with Barbara G’s friend in Cape Coast.

Dennis, our psychiatrist and hence, Dr., has helped arrange help for Ablema, the young 13 year old girl with eye problems. About 6 months in Cape Coast with treatment and lodging with Dr. there should cost about $500 USD. We hope to get enough to help the family make this happen.

Signing off for the evening, Diana, blogging again today to help share with family and friends back home.

posted by Maryanne at 2:12 PM xx




Posting this Saturday mid-day from Axim Ghana, Delegate Diana.

I see you’ve not had much to read the last few days, so I will try to fill you in.

Wed. 11/1, we all worked at the orphanage site, clearing land, carrying scrap wood to piles, gravel, sand, and water for mixing cement to lay rest of second floor. The women of Axim responded to call for volunteers and came with their pans which carried gravel, sand, and water when placed on their heads. A few of us tried, but it was tough. The best were Jeanie and Suz who got right in line and carried the heavy contents.

Ravyn, Jeanie, Susan, and Barabara went to check out sanitation in schools. The condition is one of which they discovered no water or running toilets. This inspired Ravyn for the Engineers without Borders project she will be proposing.

Thurs.
Off to Anna Esi’s village, called Okonu, and Susan H. and Jeanie gave presentations to adults in community, in a borrowed school room. Presentations on hygeine to help control infections and HIV/AIDs where many were pleased to receive free condoms. JJ and Mustafa did the translation and JJ’s second career might be an HIV/AIDs educator instead of journalist…. Louise filmed while there, and we had all the school kids who wanted to shake every hand of the few of us Obrunyi who had come. Returning by bus we stopped and had coconut cut for drink, and then cut to eat. About 7 or 8 coconuts cost 8000 cedis, which is about 80 cents.

Afternoon was part one of gender dialogue, men with men about what it is like to be a man in the world. Women with women. This was rich in the women’s circle as our Ghanaian delegate women broke culture norm to not share deep secrets. What these women have been subjected to is something all must raise up and encourage them. Part 2 was continued on Friday afternoon

Evening at beach for dinner and entertainment from local dance and drumming group. Wow can they move! Leif had his eye on a big drum, one shaped like a torpedo, wondering if he could get one home.

Friday
About 9 or 10 delegates went with Mustafa to his Muslim village. Spent a few hours there. Our delegates had to dress more conservatively to go there. Especially shocking for those who went was to observe the women in the village contained behind a thick cloth barrier, as they weren’t to be seen by the men. This fueled the Gender dialogue Part 2 when men and women came togerher in the afternoon.

In the a.m. Diana visited the Women’s training institute in Axim. They learn dressmaking, hairdressing, catering, batik, and more. Fees are about $80 for 3 years, enrollment at 70, can handle 120, but many can not afford to go to the school. With the hairdressers, I offered to let them touch my hair, and they eagerly accepted the offer; They were so suprised and said “It doesn’t feel like ours.” Found a computer room of 20 computers, 10 worked, were 16 MB ram, and using Windows 95. Abysmal. Need to get more current equipment here for them, and share with the secondary school a few kilometers away.

Friday a.m. Mahara and Dennis worked with Concerned Elders Assocation — teaching them more conflict resolution tools. Mahara will follow up during her 6 week stay past our departure.

Friday evening the delegates made dinner together. We’ve been eating Ghanaian food, and now people shared food they wanted others to try. Amercians did: stove top chicken dressing, macaroni and cheese, matzo balls and chicken soup, dried apples, and more.

Jackie and Jerome were awarded this Sat a.m. at breakfast an award and appreciation gift from schools for having taught there. How grande!

Better post before I lose what I wrote– these computers are slow.

Diana, writing for all,

posted by Maryanne at 4:24 AM xx



Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Greetings from Axim —
Dinner tonight is on the beach with a bonfire — celebrating a great day with the Axim community. This was the “Town Hall” day, where we facilitated a large scale change intervention to assist the town in gaining energy and inspiration to deal with it’s problems.

I hope someone is posting the blog today for us, though I’m contributing this before I sign off from computer.

The Ghanaian and N. American delegations were in full action today, facilititating the large group through the Town Hall process we’d established. Much thanks to Susan P, Mahara, and Dennis with the Ghanaian folks, Bentil and Old Soldier for their work.

The day was co-facilitied by Susan Partnow and James Kainyiah — masters together working the people. I’ll leave the day’s activity to be posted by the blogger of day, though I will tell you from my perspective it was an energizing day to see the things they need to do here, and ideas they have.

Music used throughout day was fabulous, you can’t help but get up and dance the Ghanaian beat.
Tomorrow we work on the orphanage — yeah!

Blessings,
Diana

posted by Maryanne at 10:22 AM xx



Monday, October 30, 2006

Blogging today for all is Diana from Seattle —

Even before sunrise, the day was eventful, and continued on throughout the day.
During the late night/ early morning, we heard loud thunder clap and rain pour down. The rain was not like at home in Pacific Northwest where the downpour occurs and moves on through, it instead just kept going for a long time, lulling many back to sleep.

So what happened here today? We’ve just wrapped from a circle this evening where we heard from many about things today.
– Jackie returned from a overnight stay with Dina in her Ghanaian home and reported a great experience. The two together can be seen laughing a lot together and having a good time.
– School visit: Jackie & Jerome, and from Ghana, Dina and J.C.
Three classrooms were brought into one room where 60 children ended up, some sharing three to a seat. Jackie provided a social studies session, Jerome taught about the continental drift. Jackie and Jerome enjoyed seeing Ghanaian delegate J.C. in action as a retired educationist (who actually also taught at the same school as Jerome when he lived in Ghana for 9 years in the past.)

– Computers: Bentil & Frank from Ghana, Leif and Tom
Leif and Tom spent time with Bentil in his office “downtown Axim” and now 3 computers have been set up. Frustrations seem to exist more in technology area about needs for stuff than for expertise. Power went out in Axim, and the guys went for a trip to Takoradi to search for some equipment needed.

– Nursing college: Jeanie, Susan H., Ravyn joined by Mustafa, Ghanaian delegate
All waited early to be picked up, then ended up with “taxi” arriving at the nursing college after the designated time. Ah, this time thing, definitely a cultural difference. The person who was to pick them up was surprised to see them because she was getting ready to drive to take them to the college. The students were split into two groups. This way both groups were manageable and got to be with both Jeanie and Susan for the information. Jeanie taught infection control and Susan H. talked about HIV/AIDs with the students where she enjoyed the students being open and telling her about AIDS in their culture.

-Women’s workshop: Gifty, Anna, Annie, all from Ghana, and Diana, Tom and Susan H,
Workshop to start at 9:00am, 60 written special invitations to specific women. None there start time. Ah, Ghanaian time….. by 9:10 we had a few and began singing and dancing in circle started by Gifty, and aided by Mahara and Susan P who had come to see the start. The women enthusiastically start singing and dancing. I wish we had recording equipment. In the King’s Palace room we were using, the voices sounded wonderful, full of life & smiles were infectious.
Gifty was a master facilitator speaking in Fanti (spelling?) language and shared wisdom about time management that made an impact on the women who at end of day said they were seeing their time as an asset now and they’d use it differently.
Tom had brought a chorker video from the US about smoking fish. It was watched with interest by the Ghanaians, affirming they were doing something good since they saw it on the computer screen, and lead them to have much discussion.
Anna and Annie were the great women of Axim for us — when lunch was late, they set out to find the caterers and what was occuring. Lunch arrived 1.5 hrs late. (That power outage in Bentil’s office that sent the guys to Takoradi had impacted the caterers, so food didn’t arrive until cooked, after the power came back on.) When the food did arrive, all were hungry, and wanting food. However, the 60 invited had grown to 130++ attending. As concern and arguments grew about receiving food, especially for those intended, I could see this was getting out of hand fast. How does one repeat the 5 fishes and 7 loaves? This was a question in my mind. So with Gifty’s help, the group was quieted and I spoke with her translating. Said something like this: “As I spoke this morning, we are women of the world called to solve problems together, and we can, no need to argue. We’re sorry the food arrived late, and thank you for waiting and being here. however this is what we have. We as women can solve the problem. We can share so all get some.” I offered my own lunch out to make sure they ate and said 2 or 3 could have it together. Rest of food distributed, with harmony and all was worked out. This story got around to many of the delegates who were amazed at how the “almost battle” was ended. A reflection of my own is that this shows us that in our world where we have imbalance, some with food and some without, that if we all pull together, we can help each of us to participate in taking care of all.
I was called on to speak with the women more than planned, on short notice. It turned out fine, and the message sent through me from Spirit was perfect in the a.m., and got reinforced settling the food issue at lunch.
In the afternoon the women received accurate HIV/AIDS info from Susan H, translated by James (JJ, our journalist). This had it’s comical moments as Susan led the presentation and JJ tried to convey the information. A missed Kodak moment was when both were in front of the room demonstrating how to use a condom.
Some of you may wonder what the women took away from day. Here’s a snapshot of their thanks: for the accurate HIV/AIDS info; for learning they don’t have to stay away from people with AIDS and they can go near them, (which is great since our orphans designated for the orphanage are parentless mostly due to AIDS); will treat their time differently and use it wisely; will not take/spend money from the income in business until all bus. expenses are paid; and one who said she learned that when her husband didn’t fish and bring back fish for her to smoke, she could learn to do it herself and go fish.
Sometimes the session felt very chaotic, then to hear their learnings, I knew Spirit was working.

Our videographer, Louise Wilkinson, started with the women’s group and then set off on a schedule to make it to some of the other happenings today. We missed her at dinner tonight as she is trying to get over a cold — something that most of us from N. America have come down with while here.

James, our journalist from Ghana, was called into action numerous times to be a translator. A fine job done!

Prep for Town Hall tomorrow: Susan, Dennis, Mahara, and from Ghana, Bentil, and Old Soldier;
All spent some time in afternoon working last minute things out especially given the experience of how the women’s session had started and was going. Lessons learned applied quickly for the next day. A big one tomorrow is coming for Axim to focus on it’s future and what they can do for themselves.

Maryanne and Barbara were finding themselves in many places, and especially enjoyed sitting in on the women’s session in late afternoon, hearing some singing, and seeing the master duo of Susan and JJ with the HIV/AIDS presentation.

If I’ve not mentioned someone, forgive me — I’ve tried to pick up the highlights from a day that had us scattered all over.

And since this is my first blogging time, I’ll add a few extra comments:
People are so hospitable. The children are magnets, or maybe we are, as if they find us, and with camera, they hang on. Food is wonderful. Heat and humidity, well, I’ll save that for later.
Signing off as my timelimit runs out and not time to check typing….
Good night from Ghana
Ablema Mensah Diana from Seattle

posted by Maryanne at 1:40 PM xx



Sunday, October 29, 2006

This is Jeanie and Suz before supper on the 29th. Saturday was a big day, huge day actually. We had received Ghanaian dresses/gowns for the women, and shirts/shorts for the men. We dresssed in these for the day. They were green with hands (helping hands) and 8 inch circles with GCJ in them. We gathered in Lower Axim at the King’s Palace for the Dur Bar. There was dancing with the children while we were waiting for the events to begin. We noticed that the local press was there with TV cameras! And some of the orphans that will live in the orphanage when it is completed were also there.
A group of traditional dancers preceded the King and their attendants. Jeanie was asked to make a formal presentation of the 60+ mattresses to the King. All of the mattresses were stacked against the inner wall of the palace “courtyard”. The King then presented the mattresses to the hospital along with all the glasses, and other medical supplies that we all had brought.
Susan was asked to talk, while Maryanne disappeared into the King’s chambers. She came out to a fanfare of drums, dressed in traditional dress and shoes, braided fabric headress, with cloth laid down before her as she walked. She sat on a stool, with her feet on a goatskin, and was honored as the “Queen of Development”, a very honorable title and position. It was great!
The rest of us each were given water, then liquor(Schnapps), and then given a Ghanaian name by the King.
We went back to the hotel for lunch and Mustafa was there with his family – his wife and 2 children. Selma, the 5 year old daughter, and Suz spent the rest of the day hand in hand.
We all went by bus for the Essiama (the hot, crowded bus), visited Dina’s school, and the Bonwire harvest festival to celebrate the end of hunger. Steven’s wife was also along as were several people who have worked GCJ in Ghana. We danced to the drums and walked along the beach. Then back for dinner and rest after a long day. Louise had spent the day filming all of the events. Tom showed us a DVD on smoking fish in Ghana. We are learning a ton!

Sunday – a more relaxing day. Some of us found a shortcut trail to Axim which takes a lot less time than the bus and take us through a very friendly neighborhood. After breakfast, many of us went to church, and Rich gave a sermon at the Methodist church. Some of us went to lunch at Ankroba Beach Hotel hosted by Mr. Addae-Mensah, a gentleman who taught at UW on a Fullbright, and now has a son at UW as well. Afterwards some went to delegates houses to visit.

Some of us are dealing with colds and fever, but most are healthy. Jackie spent the night at Dina’s house. Ravyn finds that walking on the shortcut is very enjoyable. Jerome is still telling bad jokes and just went into the sea for a great swim. Both Suz and Jeanie are looking forward to teaching classes tomorrow and for the rest of the week.

Time for dinner. Hope you are all well. See you soon!

posted by Maryanne at 9:34 AM xx



Friday, October 27, 2006

to continue…all the delegates were thrilled by the opportunity to get out into the community and into working environments. We have wonderful Ghanaian delegates—women and men. They are open, articulate, participating fully in circle time, and sharing their culture, ideas, struggles with us and we with them.
This afternoon will be special, because we will be formally received by the King of Lower Axim. This area is under a traditional/democratic combination situation. It will be a formal audience together with a meeting with the various department heads in whose organizations we are working. We’ll try to get a blog out on that. Tomorrow a Durbar is planned where they mattresses, computers, and books will be accepted and dedicated. For that, we all will have to wear African clothing, which they are making as a gift for us (big secret, don’t tell). The orphanage is coming along very very well. Today a truck is coming from Takoradi with a load of materials. The second floor walls are almost finished. The town is buzzing I think with all the activity going on. Speaking of the town, we’ve been touring is, meeting in it, walking through it. Poor. Yesterday, JJ, our journalist delgate from Accra, walked all over town looking for a newspaper and found not one. But the children look reasonably OK, people are very very friendly, very dignified, not shy particularly. We’ve learned some Fante phrases. We toured the slave castle—what a sad experience for all of us, North Americans AND Ghanaians. But now we are looking to the future, and honoring the past but not letting it control us. Well, enough for this time. The food is delicious—we all love it from both cultures. The internet connections are very iffy. The hotel is reasonably comfortable, and the staff is doing everything to make us welcome. The Catholics have let us use their bus for a reasonable daily amount. Rich will be preaching in two Methodist churches the next two sundays—has met with the Methodist minister here. More maybe tonight. Thanks to all who are reading this, following our journey, wishing us well, keeping us in your hearts. We feel we’re in a living learning laboratory here, and are so incredibly fortunate to be in this spot at this time. Medasi.

posted by Maryanne at 2:02 AM xx




Did we mention it’s hot and humid? Did we mention the fantastic ocean, good fish? We met the District Executive (mayor) who welcomed us and promised us protection while we are here. We are most grateful to the many officials who have extended the warm Ghanaian welcome to us and assured us of their interest and desire to leave “without incident”, as Exec. Ellima put it.
Yesterday Jeanie, Suz, JJ and Mustafa spent the afternoon at the hospital. They saw the situation with the mattresses in the children’s and women’s areas, and we so grateful that we have been able to have 56 mattresses manufactured in Accra to replace those. They will be arriving tomorrow. Jerome, Jackie, and Dine visited two schools. Jerome reported classrooms with absolutely no equipment, esp. the science classrooms. He will be teaching a science class next week. The gov. is putting the effort into primary education, and the secondary schools need a LOT of help. Leif, Frank, and Tom visited the school’s computer lab (Pentium 1, Windows 98) and also paid a call on Ghana Telecom offices in town. There is a promise of a new switch of some kind and internet possibility soon. Meanwhile the rest of us planned the Town Hall for next week, and the women’s entrepreneurial workshop. We are completely integrated with our Ghanaian delegates now, and working in pods on various projects. What a fantastic cross-cultural experience (and challenge). \more in a minutes. out of minutes

posted by Maryanne at 2:02 AM xx



Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Gcj’ers and friends-
All North American delegates arrived in Accra airport as planned! We had a reasonable night’s sleep. Nex morning, we had a “country briefing’ from Dennis Weller, the Deputy Director of USAID in Ghana. He was terrific–gave us much factual information about the country and US AID efforts esp in horticulture and some energy projects. After a quick lunch we visited the Archelogical Museum at U. of Ghana-Legon Campus–a university of about 37,000 students. We visited the Kwame Nkrumah memorial site—a beautiful area and monument honoring the father of Ghanaian independence. There we joined a small group of Ghanaians who entertained us with drums and taught us more about dancing! fun. We finished the day with a good Ghanaian meal and to bed.
Yesterday was the long drive from Accra to Axim, stopping along the way to visit the Cape Coast Slave Castle and Museum-beautifully and respectfully narrated by our tour guide. Then a brief visit with the Western Regional Minister, a position equivalent to our governor. We were warmly welcomed—he promised a visit without incident and expressed his appreciate for our efforts. Then on to Takoradi, and JamKay, James’ factory where we met some of the Ghanaian delegates and took on some of the mattresses into our extremely crowded bus!
Finally, we are at the Axim Beach Hotel, have met all the Ghanaian delegates and at this very moment we are engaging in our first “circle time.”
The beach is beatiful, the weather hot and humid, the hospitality warm and very friendly. We made it! Now to engage in the journey of mutual respect, friendship, projects. All is well!!

posted by Maryanne at 4:26 AM xx



Thursday, October 19, 2006

Hi GCJer’s and Friends,
Hilight of our day yesterday, was a visit to the King of Nzema (the Paramount Chief), his retinue, and members of his assembly. It was an unexpected visit, and we each were asked to speak, according to particular protocols. Nana Kaku Bulu 11, James, reminded us today how he started with his hands behind his back and head down, until he had the sense that we were being well received. We had kept them waiting for over an hour, and they recounted our transgression, but forgave us. We noted how they were straightforward and frank. In the end, it felt cleaner.
Today we met with many of the delegates and board members. Jeanie – you have the deputy director – a delightful young woman – nurse. Jackie – you have a strong, friendly business manager as a teacher. There is a teaching strike on now.
We had the clear experience of cultural differences in communications and it was enlightening and interesting.
Time is about to run out, so I had better post.
Off to Accra to continue arrangements tomorrow.
It is wonderful to be here. Looking forward to the whole group joining us. Great Ghanaian delegates!

posted by Maryanne at 3:54 PM xx




Today is Thursday. Yesterday we shopped some in the morning for supplies–water, etc in Takoradi, briefly visited James’ factory, and then drove to Axim. The countryside got lusher, more tropical. Lots of palm and rubber trees. Axim main street is narrow, crowded with people. We went directly to the room to the King of this area of this area, who is also on the WCHH Board. This was quite a formal ceremony. We were seated, and he and his retinue entered. Great respect was shown to all, and we were formally welcomed to Axim, not just as visitors, but as “one with us”, which you can imagine we appreciated very very much. James introduced us and each of us spoke about our project, our hopes, our activities, etc. It lasted perhaps an hour. Each person in the room was introduced. Mr. Bentil was there, Miss Frances Polly, the woman who chose which children to enroll in school, Stephen our civil engineering partner, and others. All were welcoming. Afterwards, we mingled briefly outside the room, looking directly out over the Atlantic Ocean. Although we were quite nervous and hoping we would not do something really rude, in James’ estimation all went well.
Then we drove up the dirt road to the orphanage. It is looking really good—a nice substantial building. It was too dark to take pictures, but we walked through it, and kind of marveled at what has already been accomplished.
Finally, in complete exhaustion, we went to the Beach Hotel, where we had a meal, met with the manager for some time trying to work out the details for the group, etc. The location is beautiful, but somewhat far from town. Today we will work out details here, meet with all the Ghanaian delegates that can come, meet with other leaders in the pm, including WCHH Board members, look over other possibilities in town for restaurants, etc. and then back to Takoradi. Tomorrow we plan to go back to Accra to wrap up arrangements there.

posted by Maryanne at 1:24 AM xx



Monday, October 16, 2006

Hi from an internet cafe in Accra, Ghana. We had an emotional meeting at the airport with James, and Kumi’s entire family. James waved a few magic waves and we were through customs before we knew it. On to the Ford Foundation and a good sleep!

Now, we just finished a meal—we were brave and following James’ good advice, had all-Ghanaian dishes, and it was DELICIOUS! In the process we found a good restaurant to take the whole group to! What a day! We have agreed that perhaps never in our lives have we in one day encountered so many friendly, helpful people. We tried to deliver letters to various ministers for Dr. Joe, and a few of our own as well! We’re figuring out the money—it’s not easy to think in the hundreds of thousands for a simple meal! We bought supplies, including two printers for use in Axim. We most of all enjoyed the sights and scenes of people engaged in their ordinary workday, in traditional or modern dress. We saw so many small entrepreneurial businesses. We met Barbara’s banker friend who generously helped us get a good rate for some of GCJ’s hard-won dollars.
And yes, there were some plumbing glitches, and an unexplained traffic jam, and it did get pretty hot and humid in the middle of the afternoon, but these are minor details at the end of our first day. Thanks to James, all went well and we are ready to take on tomorrow!! We’ll send more details in the next few days, depending on our internet access, which seems a bit dicey.

posted by Maryanne at 12:43 PM xx



Thursday, October 12, 2006

And after we danced, and ate, and wished each other well,
we received a special blessing from Marilyn to send us on our way to Axim
May you be peaceful and joyful
May you have courage and passion
May you be open to new experiences and learnings
May you develop meaningful friendships and partnerships
May you return safely and forever expanded,
ready to continue your contributions to our planet.
Thank you for what your are doing.
Your work is no small thing,
but is part of a larger energy helping to make our world a better place.

posted by Maryanne at 5:15 PM xx




x
x Learning how to dance “Ghanaian” at the GCJ Ghana Project Send-Off Party!!

posted by Maryanne at 4:54 PM xx



Monday, October 09, 2006

x
Here’s a picture from last month of the progress being made on the orphanage in Axim: soon we’ll see it for ourselves and add our own sweat-equity to the project.

Excitement is building as we finalize packing and preparations. We hope you will join us at the great send off on Wednesday evening at University Heights Community Center in Seattle! We begin at 7 pm. The dance lesson will be awesome. See you there!

— Susan Partnow, Executive Director

posted by Maryanne at 9:57 AM xx



Sunday, October 08, 2006

x

Axim kids

posted by Maryanne at 8:17 PM xx




This is the first message on the GCJ Ghana blog.
Wednesday night, Oct 11, we will have our send-off party, with food, music, Ghanaian dance lessons, and well-wishes from the GCJ family and friends. One week from today (Oct 15) Barbara, Susan P, Maryanne and James will rendevous at the Accra airport.

posted by Maryanne at 11:50 AM x

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