The Airport Chronicles: Part One

So here I am waiting to board a plane in Vancouver. This is the first of many airports that I will find myself in during the next few weeks. I have finished exams, said many goodbyes, and am now leaving Vancouver (beautiful sunny Vancouver).  I will now be in Calgary for a week hanging out with my family and running the numerous errands involved in "getting ready to go".  This is getting real, the official countdown to Ghana has begun!

Speaking of things getting real, I have placement details to share! I share these with the disclaimer given to me: this could all change. Assuming that things do not change, I will be working mainly in Buipe, which is the capital city in the Central Gonja district in Northern Ghana. Upon learning that my placement will be centered in Buipe I turned to google to tell me more about this dot on the map of Ghana...unfortunately this was mostly unsuccessful. The wikipedia entry about Buipe was a grand total of two sentences. I am excited to be able to tell you more about Buipe and I assure you that a Buipe post will on its way in about 3 weeks.

So in addition to learning where I will be working I also have an idea of what I will be doing this summer. While I am in Ghana I will be working with the District Water and Sanitation Team. My placement will involve working with the District Water and Sanitation Team to update a monitoring and evaluation system (called the DIMES monitoring system). Although the District Water and Sanitation Team is currently in charge of water issues in the district, in the future a department called the District Works Department will take a leading role in water management in the district. I will be involved in identifying water issues in the Central Gonja district, and helping to determine what support the Works Department may need to take on a stronger role in water management in the district.

Hopefully that description made some sense. I am still in the process of understanding what I will be working on and I will be sure to update as I learn more. I am off to a week full of filling anti-malarial prescriptions, locating a motorcycle helmet, and finding business clothes. Wish me luck!

Introduction

My name is Kaitlynn and I am a Chemical Environmental Engineering student at UBC. For the upcoming summer I am going to be working with Engineers Without Borders (EWB) in Ghana. I am going to be keeping this blog while I am overseas and (depending on internet access) I hope to update it weekly.

Here is a little bit of info about Engineers Without Borders and why I am involved with this organization as opposed to the many other development NGO's out there. I initially became involved with EWB because I agree with the approach that this organization takes to development, especially the focus that is placed on human development. EWB partners with local organizations or governments to work on providing services that will benefit communities within four African countries (Ghana, Burkina Faso, Malawi, and Zambia). If anyone would like to learn more about EWB definitely check out the website (http://www.ewb.ca/en/index.html) or send me any questions that you have.

So here is how I fit in. I am going to be working in Ghana from May to August this summer. I will be working with the EWB GaRI team (Governance and Rural Infrastructure) in Ghana. GaRI is working with local governments in Ghana to improve planning and decision making processes. How is GaRI working to do this (you might ask). Well, the answer is data. And not just data collection for the sake of data, but working towards collecting valuable data that can be used to make solid decisions based on evidence.

I will be working in northern Ghana and my work will be related to water and sanitation. More details to be coming soon. I will be heading to Toronto at the beginning of May for pre-departure training and then off to Ghana on May 15th.

Sounds exciting, yes?

I think so.