Recent crack down of illegal chinese miners in Ghana →
Ghana has begun cracking down on Chinese migrants who have overstayed their visas in the hope of getting wealthy in one of Africa’s richest gold fields.
Snippets of thoughts and encounters during my year as an Acumen Global Fellow in Ghana, working with WaterHealth International.
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simsim a: special sauce →
a very good reminder of ‘work’
You know that expression, “a twinkle in her eye”? She has it. An energy radiates around her. She smiles, then laughs when asked how much she sleeps. She’s speaking to us in a room no larger than 5 feet by 12 feet- it’s her living room, her bedroom, her kitchen. She has chosen to live in the…
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Source of water
The water sector has multiple challenges. While contamination can be reversed by world-class purification technology, when it comes to the water source drying up, it is not as straight-forward. During a trip to eastern part of Andhra Pradesh, we see first-hand that source shortage is prevalent especially during summer.
NYT article-
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Reblog: Kitale Diaries: Democracy, trigger happiness and a bullet in the shoulder →
when an election is more than just ads, debate, campaign and voting…
Elections are around the corner in Kenya, there’s a palpable sense of anxiety in the air. The reason? About 1500 killed and almost 250,000 displaced in the last election in 2007-08 due to a dispute about the true winner of the election. In Kenya’s young democracy a winning at all costs…
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Hyderabad’s Harathon run with WaterHealth colleagues flagging ‘Safe water for a noble cause’
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Reblog- the intangible strength and perseverance in many →
Today we moved some of the sesame from the main ginnery compound over to another site about 2 kilometers away. We caravan over to make sure no one throws sesame off their trucks in an attempt to steal a bag or two after it has been weighed at the main compound. So i hop into one of the four big…
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Other than affordability
It is 6am, Ghana’s scorching sun is still gentle and refreshing. The communities in Ga West, West of Ghana’s capital Accra, are bustling. Open fires and cook-stoves are set up, children being bathed. Women wrap their babies in colorful cloths around their waists and stroll towards a WaterHealth’s community water system with empty containers. They want to fill these containers with water.
Containers are placed in clusters against each other as closely as possible in front of the tap. It is an unspoken rule that after each container is being filled with water, a bystander in closest proximity will help the owner place the container on his/her head. There is no need to ask. Each lady balances the water weighing about 30 kg on top of her head. With a child on her back, she walks with caution but other than that as usual- steady without spilling a drop of water on the red dusty path.
The next moment I realize I am the one standing closest to the lady whose container has just been filled. So we both kneel down and lift the container up simultaneously. It reaches my shoulder height then my arms start to shiver. I hold my breath. Our eyes meet across the container. She looks puzzled why I am frozen. Then she realizes my weakness, laugh and signal me to put the container down.
Not far away, a child is defecating outside his family’s abode. When her mother passes by, she scoops up her child’s excretion with a shovel and put it in a plastic bag. Though there are no visible toilets, the community areas are kept spotlessly clean. Later in the afternoon, the heat picks up. Some customers will stop to take a break in the water center before heading out again, sometimes quenching their thirst with a water sachet. Water sachet is water sold in 500-ml sealed plastic bag. It is one of the most prevalent consumer products in Ghana. It is sold everywhere, from road-side vendor, snack bar to high-end supermarket. What is striking from a research conducted in 2009-10, is that sachet consumption is predominant amongst the urban poor- half of households in a sample of Accra’s slum reported using sachets as their primary drinking water.
On a per unit basis, a water sachet is 20 times more expensive than WaterHealth’s water. So we asked why do you drink sachet water? A common response is ‘Sachet water is pure water’ - the individual plastic pack being heat-sealed implies it is pure. That this is for a one-time use, convenient, easy to handle, means it is extra palatable.
It is not only affordability. It is packaging as well.
WaterHealth’s water is tested and qualified every month. Water quality results are posted publicly in the center. It is really pure- according to WHO standard. It is cheaper. Yet it is not patronized as prevalently as water sachet.
How do we understand and reconcile theoretical/rational knowledge versus actual happenings? Probably by asking ‘why’ more than 5 times in different ways and experiencing it day-in and day-out.
I started to drink sachet water the way Ghanaian does and plan on asking more whys differently.
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Teen article on self esteem
Context- In my first visit to a church in Hyderabad, I find this article in their teen magazine still very relevant, despite the audience being teens
10. Wear a smile
9. Be real, no need to fake it
8. Take care of your appearance
7. Keep your heart free of wrong desire
6. Speak what is true and with lots of kindness
5. Be generous to God and the people around you
4. Be content with yourself and do not envy others
3. Choose joy no matter what happens today
2. Talk and walk with happiness because God created you
1. Help others. You’ll be glad you did
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More on systematic frictions
Reading my fellow Fellow Nicole’s blog on frictions pulls strings in my heart.
As Nicole eloquently puts it-
“None of us can work the way we want to. None of us can work the way we should. None of us are able to give all the brainpower and hard work and dedication that our jobs demand and deserve.”
“For some reason the pervasive friction in the systems of developing countries never seems to make it into the big philosophical or academic debates about poverty alleviation that we all love to have. Not sexy enough maybe. And yet this friction is one of the hardest things about working to create opportunities for the poor. It’s no easy thing to watch helplessly as your efficiency get stolen away from you in bits and pieces by factors that are just so … external.”
I am used to efficiency and reliability. For example, in Hong Kong, train arrives every couple minutes. As soon as a train leaves, count-down for the next one starts. Any woeful mishap will make it into the 7pm news. Hence, I am trained (and spoiled) to be sensitive to inefficiency. I instinctively feel that my rightful ownership over my time is violated when I run into frictions.
Then I start encountering systematic frictions nearly every day since November, from withdrawing cash to finding an apartment.
Other than inefficiency, a more significant impact of systematic frictions is health. A fellow Fellow has been going without regular access to nutritious food and mobility amongst other supplies considered as basic necessities yet remain resolute in one’s commitment, defying frictions. Same theme, different story, is playing out as I speak in some of other Fellows daily lives.
After Acumen’s month-long training in a conference room, this is some of the field experiences-
Seeing fellow Fellows, entrepreneurs, colleagues and friends wrestle with frictions real time. Hearing my own frustrated inner voice. Then, after all of the wrestles, how these individuals continue to pursue work relentlessly.
I am humbled by my fellow Fellows’ reactions to frictions. I want to learn from them on how to deal with frictions. Here’re some observations and interpretations on how to deal with systematic frictions-
Put a gridlock situation in context, see through how wry and sly these frictions are. Draw the line between one’s responsibilities with the external frictions at play for the sake of self preservation long term.
Throw in some humor and long term perspectives. Treat overcoming frictions as ‘learning opportunities’. Sadly but truly, life’s biggest learning usually stem from frustrations and hindsight of overcoming challenges.
Share and reassess our interpretations with trusted individuals. Listen. There is always more than our own interpretation.
Build a character of resilience. Pursue alternative solutions.
Aside from dealing with frictions, I am curious to learn how to eradicate them.
Theme: Linear by Peter Vidani
