Back to Babianeha

Before Friday, Kurt and I had asked Kojo if he could get together a group of people who would represent Babianeha so that we could ask them directly about what sort of concerns they had about life in the village. We had also asked the library group to come with us, since we had really only spoken with men on our last few trips and thought that it might be easier for the women of Babianeha to talk with other women. Thus, we set out with high hopes for what we would be able to accomplish, and we weren’t disappointed.
As has become our habit, we first went to the house of Emmanuel’s relatives, discovering in the process that the tro-tro driver knew who we were and where we were going. In the house, Kojo asked us to wait while the community members assembled, so we sat and went over our questions again before everything was ready. Kojo also gave us the plans for a public
After a fairly short wait, Kojo came to tell us that everything was ready, and we walked from the house to a small open area close to Kofibadukrum. A number of plastic chairs had been assembled, giving the people there room to sit, and facing the chairs was a table and five chairs. Before sitting, we all shook hands with the elders and the linguist in the front row, responding “Yaa” to the occasional welcome of “Akwaaba.” After we sat, some of the people came to where we were for another welcome and more handshakes. Traditionally, we would have been offered water, but Kojo informed us that he had told them that we had had water in his house. With the greetings over, he explained our project in Twi, and then gave the floor to Kurt.
Kurt introduced us, and then asked for their informed consent to our questions, explaining the methodology we would be using. Kojo translated the statement and their response, telling us that they didn’t mind answering what we would ask.
We had intended to split the group in two, resulting in one all male group and one all female group, but Kojo was the only translator available to us. Since this meant that the group of villagers would have to stay together, we decided to change the format of our questions a little, and allow the group to discuss them rather than answer individually.
After this decision, we began by asking what the population of the village was. Although the exact number of people is not known, it is apparently somewhere between five hundred and one thousand, and Kojo offered an estimate of about eight hundred. With the number of people in the village known, and our map of the village almost complete, it would be much easier to plan future projects.
Of course, we also needed to find out what those projects should be. We asked what the major concerns of the village were, and the responses we received were about what we had expected from our prior trips to the village. Still, it was important to learn that these opinions were held by many of the villagers, not just the ones that we had already met.
The need for toilet facilities was impressed upon us once more, and one of the women explained that since the school didn’t have a lavatory, the children were at risk of snake bites whenever they relieved themselves in the bush. The school has also gone without much in the way of repair or maintenance since it was constructed in 1974, and is in great need of improvement.
While we were on the topic of schools, the issue of higher education was brought up. The village has the educational facilities to teach children up through junior high, but the nearest high school is in Sunyani. This naturally comes at a considerable expense for the parents of the children, but Kojo says that there are scholarships available for children who are academically brilliant but economically needy, such as some of the children that are currently living with him.
From the needs of children in high school the conversation moved back to the needs of the school in Babianeha. After Kojo explained how the laptop group donated a computer to the school, it is explained to us that the district assembly would be willing to shoulder the cost of providing the facilities for computers if the computers themselves could be supplied.
After this, though, the point is made that, while the needs of the school are pressing, there are other concerns that the village must take care of first. On the topic of improvements in sanitation, we bring up the issue of cost, asking if the community would have any ability to pay for part of the project. One of the elders, the sub-chief in charge of the youth of the village, tells us that he can mobilize men and women to do any physical labor necessary. While this is very important to know, it isn’t the piece of information we were looking for, so we ask again if it would be possible for the village to contribute any money for the start up cost of a project.
A minor debate went on in Twi for sometime after this, and when the talking ended Kojo summarized for us. The short answer, he told us, is no. However, several of the men in the village had pointed out that the government of Ghana had built the pumps that the village uses, and the village sells the water to pay for their upkeep. We were assured that, were we to finance a project, the village would take care of the maintenance and associated costs such as electricity.
One of the projects that we had been considering was the construction of a water tower similar to the one in Kranka. To get an idea of how large the tank would have to be, we asked what the average amount of water used per day was, and found that the average family uses about one hundred and fifty liters of water every day for cooking, washing, bathing, and drinking. Consequently, any tank put up for the use of the community would have to be at least a thousand liters, and would have to hold more than three million liters if it was to be used as a reservoir for longer periods.
From water use and sanitation the discussion moved to an idea that we have heard before: a health clinic in Babianeha. In the rainy season, many people in the village (especially children and the elderly) become sick with malaria, and need to be taken to Dormaa for treatment. The government of Ghana would be willing to pay for a nurse and the medicine if the village were to put up a clinic building.
Further questioning revealed that, for this to happen, the clinic would need to have at least three rooms (a consulting room, a sick room, and a storeroom), and possibly also living space for the nurse. However, it transpired that the idea of the health clinic did not have broad support; the general consensus was that public toilet facilities were the highest priority.
With that determination, the meeting ended, and we shook hands with the elders and the linguist once again before returning to the Opuni house for a meal of banku and groundnut soup. After lunch, Kurt and I mapped the one part of the village that was left. This conveniently brought us right to the taxi station, where Kojo saw us off.