March 31st, 2005

Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary

Ghana, Africa

Dear Supporters;

Hello Calgary Zoo from Northern Ghana.  I am typing this update from my extremely warm office in Wechiau.  There is not a puddle of water at my feet, which I am taking as a sign of my further adaptation to heat; last year I would have been forced from this room hours ago!  I have never been much of a willing water drinker, though I know that I need plenty of fluids in this climate.  As a partial solution to the dilemma, I decided to stock up on no-name iced tea crystals from the self-serve bins at Canada’s Superstore.  I am sorry to report that my stash has dwindled to no more than two or three days’ worth.  Bring on the rainy season!

 

It is amazing to me that after more than a year in Wechiau, we are still a source of curiosity for local children.  At the hands of the Wechiau mini-paparazzi, this is probably the closest I will get to experiencing the lives of the rich and famous!  Children are still determined to get a peak into our lives and home at every opportunity.  Sticky noses and dirty fingers are pressed to our windows each day and parrot English phrases in singsong voices – ‘Nasala, how-are-you-we-are-fine-thank-you’ – are a running monologue as we move through town.

The children have bright and beautiful smiles, however, it is a draining business to be forever chasing away gawking youngsters.  It is particularly invasive when I head to the latrine and a small and curious crowd gathers outside the door; it is hard to relax enough to get your business done!  Fortunately, this is not a daily event, though, I guess if this is the biggest of my worries, then I am doing alright.

One of the offshoots of eco-tourism is the development of this precociousness in the children.  Unfortunately interactions between tourists and locals often boil down to begging sessions. Children approach visitors with a request such as ‘you give me bottle’.  The tourist thinks nothing of giving the child the empty water bottle.  Yet this harmless interaction develops into a regular routine and eventually children begin to swarm around groups of visitors and attempt to get something from them.

As it would be far more difficult to educate the tourists, the children have to be the focus of awareness campaigns.  It has become clear that these campaigns need to be done on a regular basis.  It has also become clear that there is a fine line between helping people who are needy and creating a generation without pride.  When people see the level of poverty here and the lack of resources, there is a strong desire to help.  Sometimes the instinct to give materially is not necessarily the best approach.

Fortunately, the initiatives supported by the Calgary Zoo and partners are aimed at increasing the capacity of the local people to create their own opportunities in a way that works best for them.  The boreholes, the solar lighting, the school building project are all fine examples of this type of empowerment.  By providing means for increased educational opportunities, the youth of Wechiau and environs will have more power to choose economically sound futures.

 

(left: clean water erupts from a new borehole)

I have been reminded once again of how remote we are up here by the recent accident of a friend who is volunteering at a nearby school for the deaf.  He was riding his bicycle when a piglet suddenly darted out from a ditch and onto the road in front of him.  He sailed over his handlebars and hit the ground.  In those first moments, all he knew was that he was in a small village, in a tremendous amount of pain, and could not walk.  He was eventually diagnosed with a fractured femur but not before being transferred from car to truck, to motorcycle and bicycle, and back to car again just to get the nearest hospital.  And that was just the beginning of his traumatic saga.  He was ultimately flown to South Africa for treatment.

 

The first LED solar lighting units are being installed at the Hippo Sanctuary!  Our strategy is to install trial units into the compounds of each village headman.  These units will be seen by all of the other residents and generate interest in the project.  When the remaining lighting units come to that particular village, people will be more than ready to purchase their own.



  (right:Donna's husband Carl, in baseball cap, helps install a solar light)

As part of the sensitization scheme, we traveled to the tiny village of Mwaaleyiri at the Sanctuary’s northern boundary a few days ago to inform the headman of our intentions.  This small village with less than 60 inhabitants is extremely poor.  Though they can’t possibly have much to offer visitors, we were struck by the generosity of the chief, who, on our departure, presented us with a gift of 10 guinea fowl eggs.  He will venture to Wechiau on our next market day to see the demonstration light constructed in our household compound.

 

Tokali-Naa – one of the three chiefs who came to Calgary for the opening of the Destination Africa exhibit in 2003 – was among the first recipients of light.  He is the chief of Tokali, a town about 10 kilometres from Wechiau, and a town of more than 700 people with only kerosene lanterns for light.  A solar lighting unit was installed in Tokali-Naa’s central outdoor compound using a local post cut from a dense hardwood species.  A crowd of curious young onlookers witnessed the event.

(left:Tokali-Naa tests the switch on the newly installed light)


After the work was complete, a small service was held to bless the light and to invoke the support of the ancestors.  Known for his way with words, Tokali-Naa raised his glass and claimed that he was finally coming out of the dark!  With the marriage of Tokali-Naa’s eldest daughter set for the latter part of next week, the provision of light could not have come at a better time.  Now, the family will be able to have a wonderful party complete with illumination.

Donna Sheppard
Conservation Outreach, Calgary Zoo
In Association with NCRC and the Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary
Box 569, Wa, Upper West Region, Ghana, West Africa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Donna Sheppard

Conservation Outreach, Calgary Zoo

 

In Association with NCRC and the Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary

Box 569, Wa, Upper West Region, Ghana, West Africa