What Makes a Good Volunteer?

Each year, GHEI runs four 16-day volunteer sessions called Summer Serve and Learn, in which international volunteers have the chance to work with GHEI in Humjibre, choosing one of four projects to work on.

In selecting our volunteers, GHEI staff often have to ask ourselves the difficult question: “What makes a good volunteer?” We at GHEI recently had to re-ask this question as we undertook the task of selecting our Outstanding Volunteers for Summer Serve and Learn 2012.

This year Summer Serve and Learn began with our Girls’ Empowerment session. In Humjibre, as in many traditional African cultures, little emphasis is put on the education and autonomy of young women. Girls’ Empowerment addresses this concern, and our volunteers work with local girls in leadership and communications skills, decision making and family planning, among other activities.

Susan Choy showed immense creativity in her approach to running her Girls’ Empowerment sessions. At one point she ran a very amusing game that she had come up with to demonstrate the importance of family planning. Each girl was told to take as many balloons as she wanted, not knowing that these balloons represented her new “children.” Those who picked 4-5 balloons were soon burdened by the heavy expenses of paying for them as the girls rolled the dice and walked through a life-size board game in our community centre. The girls absolutely loved the game and had a lot of fun with it, and the lesson seems to have stuck. It’s awesome to think that something as simple as a game like this could have an impact on a young woman’s life! Susan also showed an eagerness to learn from the community, expanding her own skills set while building up the skills of the young women of Humjibre.

Our Read and Play session was a big hit this year, and saw our volunteers design and run a two-week celebration of literacy that ran in conjunction with our annual ReadAthon.

The standout volunteer with this group was John Schaidler. He arrived with such an energetic enthusiasm, which only seemed to grow over the course of his stay. John was quick to see what worked and was useful, and quick to discard anything that wasn’t up to par. He showed a great amount of flexibility and adaptability, which is a crucial characteristic in any good volunteer. Coming in as a foreigner, one has preconceived notions that are biased by the individual's own experiences and culture, and so the ability to think on one’s feet, and adjust and adapt at a moment’s notice adds tremendously to a volunteer’s impact. John also showed humility in all of his work, checking his biases at the door and consistently asking questions about everything, from the Ghanaian culture and traditions to the school system and language.

For the Kickin’ It In Ghana session, GHEI was happy to choose Kyle Keenan as the outstanding volunteer. Kyle demonstrated an intense passion for both sportsmanship and the sport of football itself. In fact, while touring the village just after arriving in Humjibre from a day-long bus trek from Accra, Kyle was quick to jump in on a local football match, impressing us all with his football prowess! It was great to see Kyle convey his love for the sport through the team-building and communication exercises he and his fellow volunteers designed and ran for the football camp. It was also really fun to see Kyle’s camaraderie with the athletes, coming from such different cultures yet united by their love of all things football. Kyle also stepped up to the challenge of serving as referee for the championship game of our annual football tournament, which was no easy feat. Both teams were at the height of football frenzy, contesting Kyle’s calls at points. But even standing face to face with agitated players, Kyle never so much as flinched, keeping his composure despite constant pressure from both athletes and spectators.

In our final volunteer session, Malaria Prevention, Amy Henderson Riley proved to be a standout volunteer. Amy showed strong communication skills during her time in Humjibre, which allowed her to form respectful relationships with local staff and community members. She demonstrated her leadership skills early on, encouraging everyone and boosting morale throughout the session, among both volunteers and the community health workers. Amy was fully engaged with the project, and she was able to quickly adapt to the constraints of conducting research and managing data with limited resources. She also managed to maintain her keen optimism even during (and after) hours of demanding data entry. As a volunteer, Amy approached all of her duties wholeheartedly, and embodied a great balance of both serving the community and learning so much from the people of Humjibre.

At GHEI we pride ourselves on selecting volunteers who have a meaningful contribution to make to the community. All of our volunteers have to be outstanding to be selected in the first place, so to single out individuals as “outstanding volunteers” has proven to be a very difficult and thought-provoking exercise for GHEI staff. Those named demonstrated the ability to go above and beyond our expectations, and we offer them our many thanks.

We are thrilled to work with such devoted volunteers. Humjibre residents still stop me to ask about certain volunteers. They always want to know when you guys are coming back!

We are happy to announce that both John and Amy will be returning to Humjibre next summer to serve as volunteer coordinators for the Kickin’ it – Read and Play, and Girls’ Empowerment – Malaria prevention sessions respectively.

Summer Serve and Learn has proven to be such an exciting time for GHEI, for Humjibre and the surrounding communities, and of course the volunteers themselves. GHEI would like to thank all of our volunteers over the years for making this part of our work such a huge success.

If you or someone you know is interested in serving the community of Humjibre, please click the “Volunteer with GHEI” tab above for this year’s session description and application form. Humjibre awaits!





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Clean Hands Save Lives

Global Handwashing Day in Humjibre

In developing countries, the biggest killers of young children are respiratory infections and diarrheal disease. According to UNICEF, diarrhea and pneumonia account for almost 3.5 million child deaths each year. Regular handwashing with soap has been proven to be the most efficient and cost effective method of preventing these illnesses. The Lancet medical journal reports that "washing hands with soap can reduce the risk of diarrhoeal diseases by 42‒47% and interventions to promote handwashing might save a million lives” (The Lancet). Behaviours such as handwashing are expected to contribute significantly to meeting the Millennium Development Goal of reducing deaths among children under the age of five by two-thirds by 2015 (Global Handwashing Day Planner’s Guide).

There are many barriers to the practice of handwashing in Ghana, including a lack of knowledge, a lack of running water, long distances to water sources, and cultural practices such as washing with soap only after eating.

Because handwashing is especially important where people congregate (such as in schools), where food is prepared and shared, and in homes (WELL Fact Sheet), in 2009 GHEI began a comprehensive program targeting children and mothers and aimed at boosting the practice of handwashing with soap and creating a school environment that promotes and enables handwashing practice.

Since the program’s launch, GHEI has partnered with the Global Public‒Private Partnership for Handwashingwith Soap (PPPHW) to implement a year-round school handwashing program in three villages. This program includes:

Between 2010 and 2011, there was a statistically significant drop of 42% in diarrhea prevalence in Humjibre

Between 2010 and 2011, there was a statistically significant drop of
42% in diarrhea prevalence in Humjibre

• Provision of polytanks in schools, a rainwater collection tank for access to water

• Monthly meetings with nominated School Handwashing Monitors

• Monitoring of school handwashing environments, with recognition for top schools

• Community-wide outreaches on Global Handwashing Day each October, which reach more than 1,500 students.

Our program focuses on the hygiene habits that have the greatest potential benefit: washing hands with soap at the most critical times, such as after defecation and before eating. The program targets those who have the greatest potential to benefit the most ― young children. While everyone is susceptible to communicable diseases, children face the greatest risk of becoming seriously ill and dying from the effects of diarrhea. We’ve also learned through our experiences that children serve as the most earnest and compelling spokespeople for handwashing with soap, as they are quick to learn and accept new ideas and usually bring the message home to their families, eventually spreading the concept throughout the entire community.

The first Global Handwashing Day took place on October 15, 2008, designated by the United Nations General Assembly as the start of the International Year of Sanitation. The handwashing with soap campaign began as a way to reduce mortality rates related to preventable diarrheal diseases and respiratory diseases. Today, October 15, 2012, GHEI joins over 200 million people, spanning more than 100 countries, in celebrating the 5th Global Handwashing Day.

To mark the occasion, GHEI ran several outreaches to local primary and junior high schools. In each school, students assembled by their polytank and ran through a series of activities. They began with the “Handwashing Song” that our Health Team had taught them, set to the familiar tune of "Frère Jacques .” Singing in unison with surprising enthusiasm, they sang first in Sefwi and then in English:

Soap and water, Soap and Water.

Wash your hands! Wash your hands!

Rub them both together, Rub them both together,

Clean them well! Clean them well!

Next the children were quizzed on the most important times for handwashing. Proud students ran to the front of the assembly to give their answers. Some gave incomplete answers, but after a few tries they had successfully identified the three most important times to wash your hands: before preparing food, before eating food, and after using the toilet.

The children then had the chance to put these principles into practice, and a few students were selected to demonstrate to their classmates how to give their hands a thorough scrub. Delighted to be chosen as demonstrators of this important hygiene behaviour, the children lathered vigorously and were careful to scrub and rinse every square inch of their hands, encouraged by the enthusiastic cheering of their classmates.

Following this, GHEI Community Health Workers presented the schools with bars of soap and certificates for each class, commending them for taking the handwashing with soap program seriously by putting it into practice each and every day. It is this regular practice that makes handwashing such an effective deterrent to infection: “Turning handwashing with soap before eating and after using the toilet into an ingrained habit could save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention, cutting deaths from diarrhea by almost half and deaths from acute respiratory infections by one-quarter.” (Global Handwashing Day Website).

Anglican Primary School was awarded a special certificate for Top Handwashing School, as they have engaged in the program wholeheartedly. In fact, in the days building up to Global Handwashing Day, Anglican students would spot me walking by and begin singing the “Handwashing Song,” while pantomiming the hand actions.

GHEI’s health team ran five of these school outreaches today, and will run another three tomorrow at schools in our neighbouring communities. Many thanks to all of our Community Health Workers, who endured sweltering heat to visit these schools, as well as The Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing with Soap (PPPHW) for their ongoing support. And congratulations to all our young handwashers out there, who continue to prevent illness by keeping clean and spreading the message!

Sources:

Global Handwashing Day Website. http://globalhandwashing.org

The Lancet (2003) Volume 3, Issue 5: pp. 275‒28. Effect of washing hands with soap on diarrhoea risk in the community: a systematic review.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473309903006066/abstract

UNICEF. The State of the World’s Children 2008. Child Survival. www.unicef.org/publications/files/The_State_of_the_Worlds_Children_2008.pdf

WELL Fact sheet. Health impact of handwashing with soap. http://www.lboro.ac.uk/well/resources/fact-sheets/fact-sheets-htm/Handwashing.htm

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Portia's Mended Heart

GHEI staff members were paid an unexpected visit when a large family dropped by the office this week. Country Director Clement Donkor called our staff together in the office to greet our guests, 11 in total, who had come to express their sincere thanks to GHEI.

The three children were as well dressed as the adults, as though they were on their way to church. The girls wore flowing pink dresses, the boy, a dapper suit.

The Adjei-Nipah family had come thank us on behalf of their daughter, Portia, who two years ago suffered from a congenital heart defect, commonly known here in Ghana as “hole in the heart,” that put her life in danger. The costly surgery required would certainly have put the family into dire financial straits. GHEI was able to bring Portia to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, and there she received the life-saving surgery. The KATH hospital has a program, run in collaboration with the Boston’s Children Hospital, in which patients diagnosed with curable heart conditions are offered the corrective surgery free of charge.

After leading the family into the classroom adjacent to our office and seating them, we walked around the room from right to left, shaking hands and greeting each family member, as is the custom in Ghana. Once we were seated, Portia’s father made a speech, which was later translated for me, thanking GHEI from the bottom of his heart for bringing his daughter to Kumasi and arranging for her surgery. He said that Portia never used to smile, but since recovering from the surgery she is quick to flash her cute grin.

In a generous display of their gratitude, a few family members had brought in gifts for GHEI. First, a bowl brimming with yams was brought in, accompanied by a basket of fresh tomatoes and onions. Next came a bushel of plantains, followed by a crate of sodas. As I positioned myself to photograph these wonderful gifts, Portia’s dad told me to wait, as there was one more gift to be presented. Then, to our astonishment, they led a ram into the room! We were very pleased with this gift, which would go a long way in feeding our staff! The ram, seeming somehow aware of his fate, trembled in fear and urinated on the classroom floor. He then made a quick attempt to eat some of the nearby yams, but was unceremoniously tugged away. We decided it would be best to enjoy the sodas all together, which clearly delighted the children. Portia sipped away at her Coca-Cola, savouring each drop.

After a quick group picture, the family managed to all load into a single taxi and drove off. All of us at GHEI were deeply touched by their display of gratitude. Our line of work does not always bring such open appreciation, so when people like the Adjei-Nipah family express their thanks for our work so warmly and generously, it boosts staff morale tremendously and offers us great encouragement in continuing to serve our community.

 
We thank both the doctors of KATH Hospital and Boston Children’s Hospital, whose efforts saved a dear child’s life. And needless to say, we are delighted that Portia is smiling again!

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Reading Champs

Last Friday GHEI held a quiz competition for the Library Reading Club at the Joekwart Memorial Community Centre. There were nine contestants participating, divided into groups of three, with Library Administrator Lawrence Donkor serving as the competition’s quiz master.

The club members were being quizzed on their latest reading material, a young adult novel called “The Housemaid,” by Ghanaian author Amma Darko. The novel is described in its synopsis as “a dramatic story of exploitation in modern Ghana.” Lawrence started the competition by introducing the panel of judges, Jen Matthews, Happy Nkrumah and Bright Ofori, all members of GHEI’s education programming staff.

The quiz kicked off with a speed competition, with contestants chiming in with a bell to answer comprehension questions. Team 3 started off strong, demonstrating early that they knew this book inside and out, with one member, Bridget, correctly answering seven questions in a row. The two boys on her team congratulated her, patting her on the shoulder after each correct answer. The look they exchanged with each other clearly expressed their satisfaction in having Bridget on their team.

Bridget on a roll!

“And what was her occupation?” Lawrence asked.

*Ding Ding*

“Akpeteshe seller!” shouted Bridget. Correct again!

Next were the long-answer comprehension questions, with each team given 45 seconds to come up satisfactory answers. Once again, Team 3 dominated the round, and our crowd of young spectators cheered with glee. The definitions section of the quiz, which followed, proved to be very tricky for the students, with words like reconciliation stumping them. 

 

The grand finale of the competition was a spelling bee. The very term spelling bee jolted me back to my elementary school days, and I was immediately reminded of the panic I felt so long ago. How I dreaded the spelling bee! I was a good speller, but to stand on stage in front of the whole school made my knees shake, palms sweat and voice quiver. I was overcome with empathy for our contestants, some of them showing obvious signs of nervousness. The bee was by far the most challenging section of the quiz, with each team spelling a couple of words incorrectly.

With a quick tally of points by our judges, the winning team was announced. It came as no surprise to everyone that Team 3 were the victors, having racked up a big lead in points with Bridget’s string of correct answers. They cheered wildly and everyone applauded joyfully, people shouting out Bridget’s name. So confident and on the ball throughout the quiz, Bridget quietly reverted to her usual shy and bashful self under the barrage of ecstatic attention. Winners received a book prize and all participants received a new notebook and pen, honouring their hard work. 

 

GHEI Country Director Clement Donkor gave a closing speech to both the quiz participants and the young audience members. As he translated for me afterwards, he told the group that the community library is a wonderful resource to them, holding 6,000 books. He encouraged them to read, and not just a few books here and there, but to read hundreds of books! He stressed the importance not only of reading comprehension, but also the ability to express the content of the books to others, and to be able to spell properly.

 

As the rambunctious crowd left, the contestants were ushered into the back room where they were treated to some chilled sodas. One more treat for a job well done! Bridget was the centre of attention in the room, and she had certainly earned this appreciative adulation. It was great to see her take the lead in the competition and to speak up so quickly and confidently under pressure. Given our cultural context here in rural Ghana, where many families favour boys’ academic pursuits over girls', it is high success indeed when a young lady rises up to demonstrate not only her intelligence but also her will to succeed.

Kudos to the reading club! Keep hitting those books!

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