* 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 to launch a partnership between Camfed and The MasterCard Foundation that will benefit more than 1 million people.
The launch day has arrived. We drive to Bongo, near Bolgatanga in northern Ghana, close to the border with Burkina Faso. Natural boulder formations and baobab trees give the landscape high drama.
The square for the occasion is decked with balloons, chairs arranged in groups under awnings to receive the chiefs, the heads of ministry departments, religious leaders, school children and young women members of Cama. A banner declares, “Launch of Camfed and The MasterCard Foundation Partnership in Ghana. 5th April, 2011.”
The Paramount Chief of Bongo Traditional Area, Naaba Abelimkema Lemyaarim, arrives with his entourage of Sub-chiefs and Elders, all spectacularly dressed in the heavy woven and embroidered cloth of the north. Musicians accompany their sedate entry, like a pageant.
The formal proceedings unfold, chaired by retired educationalist Mr. Robert Akurugu Ajene. He notes that the master of ceremonies had mistakenly given all the senior women present a male identity by prefixing the announcement of their names with “Mister.” The chairman refers to this with a light touch. “Today, is a special day for women as all of the women were made men. I think we will need to intensify the work for women!”
Music was composed for the occasion, the singer accompanies himself on the kolgo, much like a large banjo. The lyrics, sung with passion, urge parents to recognize the serious value of girls’ education in that girls would ultimately be earning far more as educated women than by being married young.
The Honorable Lucy Awuni, Deputy Regional Minister, Upper East region, gives the speech officially launching our initiative. She pulls no punches. “In cases where a man is choosing which of his children to be educated, it is well known that he will support boys. This is unfortunate, very, very unfortunate.”
She describes coming just that morning from the Regional House of Chiefs and relays the message she had given to the women there. “If men want you to bring water to build the school, tell them you won’t do it because you were not involved in the decision making.” She explained that women don’t “come out of their houses to vote because they say they are not literate. We need women to be part of the decision making process.”
The audience listens hard. The words are not lost on the young women members of Cama who played such a big part in organizing the event. “We are happy, very happy,” said one of them, Emelia Dokurugu, with shining eyes—surrounded by friends.
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 6th, 2011 at 7:32 pm and is filed under Ghana, Latest News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
