* Any views expressed in this opinion piece are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
This week, Ann Cotton, Camfed International’s Executive Director, will be blogging from Ghana as she travels with Dolores Dickson, Camfed Ghana’s Executive Director, Reeta Roy, President and CEO of The MasterCard Foundation, and Deepali Khanna, Director of Youth Learning at The MasterCard Foundation. They are in Ghana this week to launch a partnership between Camfed and The MasterCard Foundation that will benefit more than 1 million people.
After a journey through the savannah north of Tamale, first on tarmac, and then juddering along on pounded earth, we arrive at 9am at the home of Al Haji Asumah, the chair of the Camfed District Education Committee in Tolon Kumbungu district (pictured above).
“How is everything, Al Haji?”
“Everything is going on very well. Everyone is free. There is peace, perfect peace.”
Al Haji escorts us to the Palaver House, the building set aside for the chief and community to hold their discussions. It is about 30 feet in diameter, painted apple green with a vaulted tin roof. Four-foot-high drums lean against the walls. Here we are making a courtesy call to the local chief, an important prelude to every Camfed visit to communities across the Northern Region of Ghana.
Chief Sulemana sits on a raised platform with his headmen around him. There is color everywhere – blue, purple, yellow and multi-colored robes of the men. Guinea fowl wander in and out and a rooster crows outside. We sit on our white plastic chairs — Reeta, Deepali, Dolores, Charles, Munira, and myself — watching for our cues.
The world over, there is always a complex choreography around power. Those of us unfamiliar with the traditions of the Dagomba chieftaincy are anxious not to put a foot wrong. We bite into the kola nuts we have been given in welcome – the traditional greeting for journeying strangers, presumably to give them a caffeine rush to tackle the next leg in the 35 C / 95 F degree dry heat.
A discussion follows, on the issues at hand around the advancement of girls and women. One of the participants expresses a sentiment that is by no means unusual in any corner of the world. “If I marry you, I want to control you. But if you are better than me, how can I control you?”
Al Haji, himself a chief and Imam, and Charles Atia, who leads the Camfed Ghana office in the North, join the debate in support of opportunities for women and girls. Dolores Dickson, Executive Director of Camfed Ghana, with her acute emotional intelligence, signals that the best strategy here is to allow the men to argue the case.
The discussion highlights the importance of our work in this community and the vital need to continue the dialogue about girls’ education. The chief sends us on our way with a gift of yams and guinea fowl, a repeated welcome to the community, and permission to visit homes and schools.
