‘Hoe kijkt coördinator Stephen Abarika terug op het project?
De partner vertelt... van 15 mei 2024 door Stephen Abarika
Elk jaar vragen we onze partner hoe het project is gegaan en welke lessen de partner heeft geleerd.
Context and summary
Describe the original plan/idea for the project. Has the project been executed as planned?
A community called Soasobigi in the East Mamprusi Municipality in the North East Region of Ghana made a request in 2019 for a 3-classroom block, through the Municipal Directorate of Education. The request for a 3-classroom block was aimed at improving good quality education since the only school made of mud and locally built by the community had collapsed. Given the situation, children continued to have classes under the tree. AG Care and World Servants after considering the request, approved for a 3-classroom block with an office and store to be constructed for the community. This decision was to help improve access and sustain good quality teaching and learning outcomes.
A team of AG Care local artisans worked together with a total of 31 Dutch volunteers and the community to undertake the construction works. By the time the participants left Soasobigi, the building had reached the roofing level. The building project was completed by the first week of September 2023. Currently, the classrooms are in full use by children in the Soasobigi community and its surrounding villages. Classes 5 and 6 occupy a classroom, classes 3 and 4 occupy another classroom and KG 1&2 occupy the third classroom. These classrooms are the ones World Servants helped to construct. Classes 1&2 are accommodated in the old structure near a tree where meetings with AG Care and World Servants officials were held.
Through this project, we will be better than ever before in contributing to the achievement of SDG 4 and by extension, SDG 5.
Give a (short) general description of the implementation of the project.
During the project preparation stage, the site or location for the classroom project changed twice. The final decision to locate the project at its current location was made. The decision to change the location as mentioned was to help protect the building from severe erosion. The whole land area given by the community chief for school infrastructure is on a gradual sloping area. The building of WS is being protected from erosion by filling sacks with sand and placing them around the classroom block to help reduce the velocity of water around the building.
By the time the Dutch participants arrived in Soasobigi, the building foundation works were almost ready, thanks to AG Care's local artisan , team, and community members. Participants and members of the community took part in block laying, concrete works, steel bending, woodwork on windows and doors, digging the sceptic tank, plastering walls, and collecting blocks. The local artisan was Mr. Issahaku Haruna. He works with his own recruited team. Mr. Issahaku won the bid for the Soasobigi project. The total number of applicants for the project was three.
How do you look back on the following topics? How was it arranged, what went well, what could be done better?
Construction
Buildings worked on
The kind of project that was executed was a 3-classroom block, office, and a store. AG Care was responsible for preparing and supervising the construction activities. The local artisan and his team working with community members ensured the foundation was almost ready when the team arrived. Building work on the Soasobigi project went very well. There were enough building materials positioned for the work. The accommodation for participants was so close to the building site that it served as an advantage in the area spending more time doing construction. Community participation was just great.
The construction process adopted involved the following: planning (all-inclusive), procurement and positioning of building materials on site, construction (marking, excavation, foundation, framing, brick masonry, roofing, flooring, and painting), and post-construction (corrections if any). The quality of the construction constituted a crucial component of the execution of the project since the local artisan is very much conversant with the building code of Ghana. The water tank with a capacity of about 35,000 liters will be constructed somewhat attached to the classroom block sometime in April 2024. This is due to heavy rains and harsh harmattan weather. It was necessary to suspend the construction of water tanks to enhance quality.
Tasks to be done
Tasks on the building were planned very well with the technical staff of the World Servants team working very well with AG Care Local Artisan to ensure that work was available daily for team members to do. The construction work that was done with participants and community members involved block laying, concrete works, steel bending, woodwork on windows and doors, digging the sceptic tank, plastering walls, and collecting blocks. At the time participants left the community, tasks that were left to be completed on the building included roofing, painting and fixing of doors and windows.
Programs
Children program
The main objective of this activity is to engage the children in Soasobigi, through Bible stories, songs, role play, crafting, and games to give these children loving attention and, concerning safety, keep them away from the construction site. A little over 80 children took part in the children's programme. The venue for the programme was the school playing field. The rain interrupted some of the planned children's programme. For 8 days, the children were taken through a mix of lovely activities as mentioned above. At the end of the programme, many children were blessed with Bible stories while upgrading their skills in other activities that were carried out during the period.
Cultural and touristic outings
Members of the team had the opportunity to visit and interact with families and individuals in Soasobigi town. Specific time was allocated for these visits with each member of the team having their turn to engage in activities on cultural practices. The team was led to visit the Chief of Soasobigi and his elders. A cultural dance to showcase the culture of the people of Soasobigi was organised for the team. In all these cultural activities, participants got to know, learn, and appreciate the unique nature of the culture of the people they came to Ghana to serve. Interacting with people in Soasobigi through various activities also gave the people of Soasobigi the opportunity to learn about the Dutch culture. In terms of touristic outings, the team visited the Kintampo Waterfalls, Fort of Good Hope, and the beach. Members of this team visited the Mole Park. The touristic outings allowed participants to relax and also see aspects of the country.
The Dutch volunteers also attended church services while in Soasobigi and some of the participants visited the farm to harvest peanuts.
Life Skills program and Football for Water (also include the amount of tranings given and the number of people from the community actively involved in training).
A football game as a sport was combined with hygiene education. During the game, hygiene education was provided. Participants in the hygiene education session acquired new skills regarding hygiene.
Cooperation and involvement
Leadership team World Servants
The leadership team of World Servants performed remarkably. Leaders of the team worked together very well with the trip leader, the local coordinator and his team.
Local leaders / key persons
The chief of Soasobigi together with all other key community opinion leaders were informed of the project and space was created for the local leaders to fully participate in the project . This all-inclusive approach was necessary so we could promote community ownership and responsibility towards the project. The leadership of the project community organised the community into sections. Each section had their leader to plan and ensure when it was their turn to participate in the building project. They actively participated, as expected. They also ensured that no community member disturbed the team. Leadership of the community also donated land for the project. Goats and sheep were donated to the team for meals.
Community
The community was involved in project design, planning, and implementation. Members of the community played a crucial role in the actual construction work during the project. This all-inclusive approach was necessary so we could promote community ownership and responsibility towards the project. The interaction between the community and participants during construction created the space for a bigger project impact. The community is located in a low area and erosion during rainy season in the community is serious. Some of the crops planted were washed away by the rains.
Beneficiaries
The district education office and community leaders played a key role in the project design, planning, and implementation. Being the direct beneficiary, the officials of GES and teachers in Soasobigi primary school are in a better position now to increase school enrolment and enhance quality education using the classroom block. Specifically, the education office and stationed teachers in Soasobigi did very well in mobilising the entire community to support the project, before, during and after the project.
(Local) authorities
On the part of the local authorities, they provided an enabling environment for the implementation of the project. They played an important role in informing government agencies such as the immigration service, police, and chief of the presence of the team in the area. The visits by participants to places such as schools, hospitals, and the office of the regional police commander were all facilitated by local authorities.
Facilitation of the team
Accommodation
The team stayed within the project community. An uncompleted classroom block which was started by the government of Ghana in the community was roofed temporarily to accommodate participants. It was not the best accommodation, but participants were able to manage it. AG Care and community leaders commend participants for flexibility. The uncompleted classroom block initiated by the government of Ghana through the local government some 4 years ago, may not be completed this year 2024 since it is an election year in Ghana.
The accommodation was large enough to host the entire team in one place. Aside from a few challenges, the sleeping place was safe for members of the team. The main challenge encountered was water entering the rooms when it rained. We thank the Municipal Chief Executive for giving us the chance to use the uncompleted building as accommodation for the team.
Food
The Dutch volunteers were given three meals a day. Vegetables and fruits served to participants were washed with filtered and boiled water. This was to make them suitable for the Dutch stomach so that they stay healthy. Enough water was provided during the project for preparing food. The food was prepared by a (local) kitchen team. Food was good throughout the project. We say a big thank you to the local cook and her team.
Transportation
Participants were transported locally by bus from Soasobigi to Accra. The transport company provided a good bus with a qualified and reliable, safe driver. AG Care ensured the driver and his assistant had enough rest before they drove the bus. AG Care also arranged for a bus that was suitable for the size of the team as well as able to carry the luggage of the team. For the long distances, we ensured that a bus that was ideal for that purpose was used. The trip from Accra to Tamale was done by air.
Entering the community with the team was a challenge. The road leading to Soasobigi was not motorable. For that matter, participants were transported via AG Care cargo truck. Eventually, the cargo truck got stuck about 2 kilometers from Soasobigi. Some of the team members walked to the community. Due to heavy rains in and around Soasobigi, participants had to be evacuated via tricycles since the bus could not access the project community.
Safety
Safety from the start of the project until the end was a high priority. Working with well-documented Field Security Plan. Accurate measures were taken to increase the safety of the team . One big safety challenge the project faced had to do with evacuating participants out of Soasobigi to Sakogu a day earlier due to heavy rains in the areas. It became serious to the point that no vehicle could come into the community of Soasobigi nor go out of the community. We thank God that with 3 tricycles, we were able to evacuate the team out to safety.
Lessons learned
The response from individuals and government and nongovernment agencies was more than expected, when they were willing to help evacuate participants out of Soasobigi during flooding. The high level of willingness to help was mainly due to people's appreciation of the concept of the World Servants project.
This team was one from a local church in Holland. Local church groups are normally well coordinated. This makes project interaction between stakeholders easier and more interesting.
