Ghana

Posted by Stuart:

The panic I felt at moving to a developing country is now starting to subside. I am beginning to immerse myself into this way of life but I always knew that it was incredibly important for me to be completely focused on the work we are doing here in order to keep the panic at bay.

Thinking constantly about what we are trying to achieve is my way of staying focused, and trying to understand the needs of the people we are helping is paramount to that task. Inevitably people here are very poor compared to those of the developed nations but there is little obvious dissatisfaction with their lives. True, most people live a hand to mouth existence and that in itself makes them more vulnerable to world events that can upturn their fragile existence and over which they have little or no control.

But in Ghana there is a palpable spirit that (I am told) is quite different from that of their neighbours in West Africa. Ghana has warmly embraced democracy in the last few years and the people are immensely proud of that fact - especially as this is in stark contrast to many of the surrounding countries. You have a strong feeling here that they are determned never to return to the uncertainty and unpredictability that characterized the previous years of rule by oligarchy.

Having a free press is a major component of the new sense of pride. At last Ghanaians realize that they can be masters of their own destiny and there is now a chance that the self-levelling effect of democracy with a particular emphasis on accountability will begin to deal with the immense problems they have inherited. It will be a long hard road but they know they are taking the first steps.