Meet the Team! (Laahbaltirba!)

By Daisy Lea Perry, Charlotte Price, and Issaka Amadu Atusi

Many people around the world want to see a change, and a fairer world. It's a wonderful thing when a group of these people come together. NFED echoes these values and we all feel so privileged to be partnered with them through our International Citizen Service programme in Tolon, Northern Ghana. The Non-Formal Education Division (NFED) based here in Tolon focuses on providing functional literacy and skills development programmes for the rural communities for a period between 18 and 21months. Our cohort seeks to support our seven Income Generating Groups (IGG’s) across six communities; Kangbagu, Dimabi Yepala, Yoggu, Wayamba, Dundo and Tolon to form cooperatives. The aim is to provide sustainable income generating source to these communities and ensure they have a more regular and stable supply of income.

Congratulations on finding yourself visiting our ICS blog, we'll continue to keep you updated bi-weekly on our team and project and how it's all going so be sure to pop in regularly! We are cohort 4 within our team, we have had a variety of people travel from across the UK and Ghana willing to work together to help these income generating groups have a sustainable income source with our diverse expertise in various fields.


“Siliminga (foreigner), what is your name?”

Siliminga is the most common phrase one will hear in the communities especially among children.

 We'd like to introduce you to our first team leader Katie Connan; Katie has come from Cambridge where she was completing her Masters in Human rights law, and working in an outdoors shop. She hopes ICS can help her to develop dual management and leadership skills and is looking forward to working cross culturally.



Our other valued team leader is Francis Bacon Vuuri. Francis is from Techiman in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana who had his degree in Integrated Business Studies (Accounting) and was working with a Ghanaian NGO (Center of Posterity Interest Organisation - COPIO) with special interest in research and community development, and worked in diverse fields such as health, education, water and sanitation and governance before coming to join International Service. Francis hopes that ICS can help him to gain leadership and project management skills and is very excited to work with a diverse group of young people coming from diverse backgrounds/cultures.


Our team leaders are here for 6 months and we are already singing their praises, you’ll have a smashing time Cohort 4! Now onto the rest of the team;

Harry Stephenson has come from Kingswinford in the midlands of England. Back home Harry worked for his local council carrying out administrative work. Harry hopes that taking part in such a project like ICS will help him to develop his confidence and looks forward to his future career options broadening.  Harry has a strong interest in helping others, and believes that such a sustainable project like NFED really suits his values. Very admirable Harry!


Daisylea Perry is from a little further south in the UK, from the quiet town of Taunton in Somerset. Before ICS she worked as a Health care assistant in her local hospital and regularly volunteered in her local community. Daisy loves travelling and hopes that living in Ghana will enable her to see and learn more about Africa and the way of life. After ICS she is interested in attending university to do a Paramedic science or journalism course, hopefully ICS can help her to make up her mind!


Abdul Rahman Abu, one of our team members, he has come across from the Upper West Region of Ghana where he was looking to further his education and looking for a job, Rahman is hoping ICS will help him to develop his presentation skills and is excited for his CV to be enriched with the achievement to help him in his search for a new job.

Yakubu Hadija, has come a little more locally, from the nearby city of Tamale. Before ICS Hadija was progressing with her schooling in automobile engineering and was interested in finding a job. She is looking to add to her experience in team work and is looking to make connections that will be helpful for her job search whilst building her character along the way. I'm sure you'll succeed in your goal of a career in automobile engineering, and that hopefully this experience can help you to develop the necessary transferable skills.

Agartha Sambile comes from Tatale in the Northern part of Ghana, but has been working in Tamale for the past 3 years teaching class 5 in primary school. Agartha is keen to gain cultural experience from ICS and various skills to help her to enrich her teaching. After ICS Agartha will be attending teacher training college, she is already set with her place in October, good luck Agartha!


Charlotte Price (Charley) comes from the historic city of  Chester in the North West of England. Before embarking on the ICS journey she had just completed the second year of an economics and geography degree at the University of Birmingham. Charley is interested in developing her transferable professional skills in order to increase her job prospects, along with taking the opportunity of working cross culturally to develop personally. After ICS she intends on completing her degree and hopes to pursue a finance related career with a focus on emerging markets. She hopes to inspire others to take part in such a life changing experience and the benefits of pushing personal boundaries. 


Amadu Issaka Atusi comes from Bawku in the Upper East of Ghana. He is a graduate from the University of Development studies (UDS), and wishes to follow a career in International Development. He is an extremely motivated and organised individual who we are all really excited to work with. Amadu is hoping to gain experience in project management from ICS, increase his confidence and challenge himself to develop the skills to enable him to change the world after the ICS programme. Amazing stuff Amadu, we’ll support you all the way!




Eloghene Otobo (Elo) is a wonderfully committed woman from London, back in London Elo was completing an internship in global health development. Elo is hoping ICS will open her up to career opportunities whilst developing her skills in project management and working within a cross cultural collaboration. She's ready to embrace any challenges along the way.



Jianvario Sabbatella-Chudley (Eo) is an extremely charismatic individual coming all the way from Bedfordshire. Eo was motivated to apply for ICS after completing the NCS program in the UK. Back in Bedfordshire Eo took part in various agency work and was searching for a more permanent job. He hopes that ICS will help him to develop professionally and bring him career opportunities. Eo also has a goal a little closer to his heart and is expecting the journey will help him to develop personally and find himself. We wish you all the best in succeeding with your goals Eo, you really do brighten any room you walk into!


Jaabir Issah is from Kintampo in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana. Jaabir completed tertiary education in 2014 with a degree in social science, he then went on to do national service as a geography teacher in 2014/15 academic year. More recently Jaabir has been teaching and learning Arabic. Throughout ICS Jaabir intends on developing his communication and professional relationships. He is very optimistic with securing a job and hopes to return to teaching after ICS.



Our volunteer Rafia Iddrisu, has travelled a short distance from Tamale to be with us. Back in Tamale Rafia was completing her national service and has proved to be quite business savvy. The experience she has from helping with her brother’s business really relates to the project here at NFED. Rafia believes that ICS can benefit her professionally through the absorption of knowledge and experience from working with the IGGs in the communities.  She is very excited to receive the certificate of completion, which will be a massive achievement personally to her and a bonus for her CV.

Madina Fusheini  is an enthusiastic and extremely capable team member who has a passion for gaining experience and knowledge through the course of this placement. She hails from the Upper East Region of Ghana and before ICS she completed  her national service. After ICS Madina intends on using the skills she hopes to gain from this placement to help her to find a job and secure her career path. We have great expectations for Madina and believe she will go far in life, keep up the good work!



Unfortunately our wonderful team is 2 down, Katie Barnett and Chloe Hulme are a pair of very dedicated and cherished team members who have sadly had to leave us this week due to medical reasons. Their time with us has been short but sweet and the work that they have contributed to the project is highly valued. Good luck in the future guys, you will be missed!




Successes of the last 3 weeks

During our first few weeks in the office our team has developed a strong commitment to one another and the project, we pay particular attention to regular team building activities to ensure our team cross culture dynamic is flourishing. Our recent guided learning sessions have included; a environmental awareness presentation, which included an active team mind-mapping discussion on how the community can recycle and develop its environmental sustainability and the lives of the indigenes as a whole, we have also taken part in several group reflection exercises which helped the group become more aware of one another's personality and strengths/skills.  We also had our community entry where the team was introduced to our various IGGs in our operational communities, meeting the community chiefs as well as some elders and opinion leaders of the communities. It was a really memorable experience meeting various people on that day. We have also been preparing for next week's needs assessment, in which we will be going into our various communities to check up on their progress towards becoming cooperatives, so definitely pop in soon to hear about our results!

The Importance of Educating Rural Communities in Financial Management

By Abdul-Hakim Al-Hassan

After I had gone through financial management course at University and underwent some training on cooperative societies (organized by ICS Cohort 2 and delivered by the Department of Cooperatives) it came to my attention that the reason why some people fail in their business activities is due to the fact that they fail to realize that it is not just how much money you make but rather how well you manage your money. People who are poor become wealthy as a result of prudent business and financial management.  The women engaged in agricultural business activities in rural areas can make money but can’t manage it well and so they are trapped in a cycle of poverty. 

Picture of the current IGG in Wayamba

As a result of financial illiteracy, they fail to distinguish assets from liabilities hence, they tend to overspend on liabilities and don't keep track of their assets or fail to count their profit/losses. In the community I am posted to, called Wayamba, there was previously an Income Generating Group (IGG) called 'Yellim' (which means salt). The group members would all contribute money to buy salt from the market and then store it in a warehouse. They had a group of people that would buy the salt at a slightly higher price. Initially, this was successful; however, there was an instance where two leaders started taking money from the group contributions to buy personal items, e.g. buying cloths to give to their daughter for her wedding, rather than investing the money into the group to improve the business. Because they were leaders, they did not pay back the money and this caused the business to collapse. The two leaders lacked financial literacy because they spent the money on things that were not related to business and did not appreciate the effect of using the business' money for their personal use.

In addition, these women fail to cultivate the habit of saving and live hand to mouth and often are unable to account for what they used it for. Through the introduction of NGOs and education into some communities, some groups have started collective saving schemes. Although these schemes can be quite successful they fail to encourage the women to collectively pool their resources together to minimize business expenditure. In some cases, they are able to form groups but again do not work collectively, rather they work individually and so carry all  the risks of a business rather than spreading it across a group. The idea of pooling resources, working collectively and sharing risk are some of the fundamental aspects of forming a cooperative and is one of the reasons why cooperatives are effective for rural income generating groups that only produce a surplus, as opposed to a profit. 

Women selling shea butter at Katinga Market

I began to think about the people in the villages and rural communities, specifically the women who have not received formal education and so are part of the vulnerable in Ghanaian society. These women work hard to take care of themselves and their children and often they have business ideas which they try to put into practice, for example by engaging themselves in farming or alternative business activities to their usual income generating activity, such as Shea nut picking or rice processing, to mention but a few. It is my impression that whilst smaller sections of them may succeed, the majority fail in the process because they can’t sustain the business as a result of lack of financial management skills, such as good record-keeping skills. From my experience working with the community I have found that the women are eager to learn new skills but lack the opportunity to do so. That is why I feel our work is so important. 
   
Some women try to organize themselves into IGGs to help each other; however, some fail because they are not cooperatives and therefore lack the knowledge and training that is given in the process of registering as a cooperative society.  For example, if the leaders in Yellim had been taught about record keeping and the responsibilities of a leader, they would have realised that they cannot use the business' money for personal use. Forming a cooperative also helps IGGs to receive financial support for their income generating activity from NGOs and the government.
 

Therefore, I decided that I would like to use the knowledge I acquired in my own financial management training to the benefit of women in rural communities so that they could gain more benefits in the income generating activities that they engage themselves in. However, the question was how I achieve this? 

 

A picture of me delivering a training session to the IGG in Wayamba on record keeping

I was able to achieve this dream by working with ICS. I was enrolled onto the programme as a volunteer in the Non-Formal Education Department (NFED) Tolon livelihood project to train women in pre-selected income generating groups on how to form cooperative societies. Part of this training involved teaching the women financial management and record keeping, which is a key requirement to become a sustainable cooperative society.

As the saying goes: “If you educate a man you simply educate an individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate a whole nation." By ensuring that our programme and the training we deliver to the communities, which is NFED inclusive, is sustainable we hope that our teachings can be used by facilitators in the communities to pass the information on, from community to community and, as a result, we hope that the communities we have started to work with on this project will go on to form cooperatives. Perhaps, by doing so they will inspire another group or even another generation in rural communities to form their own cooperative society.