Weekend in BONGO

Weekend in BONGO, principal town in BONGO district, in the LAND of Ghana, West Africa.

(or why development aid to developing countries/poor parts of countries with “middle income status” should continue)

While Zebilla lies 45 km to the West of Bolga, the road to Bongo heads 15 km north. Both towns, and indeed the districts they head, are among Ghana’s poorest, with high rates of adult illiteracy, a subsistence economy based on local crops grown in a single season, and a fragile infrastructure.

Evic, a fellow VSO volunteer, supports local individuals and groups with a desire to set up enterprises. The work is slow, demands patience and successes are long term, not quickly achieved.

Both of us being quite tired after the demands of a week’s work, we spent the bulk of each day enjoying what must be among the best of social pastimes:-eating Evic’s beautifully cooked food and talking. As re-volunteers, we could compare experiences from across the continents, referencing Guyana, Kenya and Cambodia, as well as Ghana, plus home spun anecdotes from the Philippines and the UK. We encompassed small businesses, education, health care and governments as well as wandering into  more personal topics. Regarding relationships, Evic declared she had found the perfect “boyfriend” in her motorbike.

Evic dusts and polishes her VSO motorbike

 The potential for food and finance shortages among local farmers, due to a lack of rainfall for the earlier months of what should be “the rainy season,” was again worried about, as we walked along the dried river bed of a White Volta tributary.

 The river level rises and falls with great rapidity, quickly taking away the excesses of tropical storms. The bridge is a recent addition- previously, the route was impassable after heavy rain.