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May 31, 2005
Wechiau Hippo Sanctuary
Ghana, Africa
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Dear Supporters;
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I am gradually beginning to find my voice here. During the past 15 months, I have been learning the rules of human interactions in Northern Ghana, and I was always careful not to speak out of turn. Because of this temperance in response, there were numerous occasions when I knew I was not getting a fair shake, yet it seemed prudent to be cautious.
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Now that I have some small grasp of the manner of communications, I have begun to speak strongly when required. The way you act in most situations here relates directly to your status. As a ‘rich’ white woman, I am in a position of power and authority. Exercising this place in society often means that I should not show kindness to those ‘beneath’ me. This really goes against my upbringing, but I am beginning to get used to it. It would be foolhardy not to adapt. The alternative results in people seeing you as naive or soft, and taking advantage of you at every turn.
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Additionally, on many occasions, I have found myself baffled at comments and actions taken by my co-workers. I am now beginning to understand that the essential motive for confusing human behaviour typically involves personal gain, financial or otherwise. By assuming that a person’s actions are in some way related to this goal, insight can be gathered into decisions and betrayals made. People will exploit even the smallest of opportunities that are made available to them - the chance of a free meal, a free ride, an article of clothing - deserving or not, people will work very hard to maneuver themselves into the position of recipient. For the most part, people have lived with suppressed desire for their entire lives.
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The work we are engaged in at the Hippo Sanctuary day by day very much attempts to address this suppressed desire through the collaborative provision of basic amenities such as new schools and education opportunities, clean, accessible drinking water, and inexpensive solar lighting. Through information-sharing meetings with nearby villagers around these developments, we make sure to reinforce the underlying reason behind the improvement - that being, the existence of the Hippo Sanctuary and the level of international interest generated by the effort to preserve and protect the hippo population and its threatened ecosystem. By directly connecting economic benefit to conservation efforts, local residents are made increasingly aware of the value of the protected area.
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Of course eco-tourism and visiting tour groups also bring much needed revenue to the Hippo Sanctuary. May brought the University of Calgary into our midst. A biology field school led by Dr. Robert Longair conveyed 8 undergraduate students to the Talawona Tourist Lodge for a week of research. The students explored the local environment and designed their own mini-projects conducted on site. They were instrumental in enabling a hippo census for the Sanctuary – likely to be our only official one for the year – and participated in the first attempt at a ‘night safari’ that may eventually be marketed to tourists. A big thanks goes to the crew from U of C! |
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It is wonderful to have visitors from Calgary for another reason too. They play a key role in the delivery of goods back and forth across the ocean. All of the students had in their luggage many items that were destined for the Hippo Sanctuary...dozens of Calgary Zoo t-shirts, resource materials, and personal items that we had been forced to leave behind in January to make room for solar panels and LED lights. |
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On return, the field school’s supervisor will bring back to Calgary textiles made by the daughter of one of our prominent divisional chiefs, Gorungu-Naa. These colourful materials will be sold in a local Calgary shop (From the Ground Up in Inglewood) and all proceeds will be sent back to the young businesswoman. We have worked diligently over the past few months to develop and improve her products, and Ayisha has given all of her energy to the initiative. |
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Impetigo – a bacterial infection that gives you crusty yellow sores on your face and body – was going around Wechiau in May. I was unfortunate enough to catch it and then had to work fairly hard to get rid of it. In addition to having the sores on my face, all of my many insect bites also became infected. After 8 days, with no improvement in sight, I finally had to resort to antibiotics.
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The first of the community lighting meetings has taken place in our smallest Sanctuary village. With just 6 family compounds, Mwaaleyiri was selected to be the first to be supplied with individual solar LED lampposts. At the end of the information session held in the village, people were invited to begin the process of raising the funds to purchase their light. In a wonderful show of unity, after a brief discussion amongst themselves, they decided to complete their payments as one. They will pay for their lights on the next Wechiau market day, after selling off some of their domestic animals at intervening markets. |
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Ghana is a great destination if you are a football (soccer) fan, as I am. And since there are few recreational activities in Wechiau, we sometimes travel very far for entertainment. Towards the end of the month, I traveled an hour on the motorcycle to watch the European Cup on satellite television. My team – Liverpool – had made it to the final. The match was a hair-raising performance that had all of us, gathered around the hotel’s television, on the edge of our seats. The score was tied at the end of regulation time, forcing penalty shots. As the players lined up for the dramatic shoot out, the screen went blank. We all looked at each other, a few smiled, a couple more chuckled, and then we all got up and left; we were immediately resigned to the fact that our football viewing had come to an end.
Only an emergency phone call to my father in Canada 5 minutes later enabled me to celebrate a Liverpool win!
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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 |
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