Whenever I get bored at our offices (which can be very work-focused and stressed sometimes, or can be virtually dead with no one around) I sometimes take trips over to see some colleagues at the GES - the offices for the Ghana Education Service in this district. They may not always be seen to be working quite as hard as their INGO counterparts, but they certainly know how to have fun and a giggle.

One of the first times I went to see the Gender Officer there, I was met with three men, each sitting at a desk in the same office, and each expressing his own style of 'working'. One had a bare desk with nothing at all on it except for his mug which sat proudly and cleanly in the middle. He, as far as I could see was quite simply just sitting there. The second was pretty much the same, without the mug but with a radio that was rattling out some quite nice Ghanaian music. And the third sat in the corner with a much busier looking desk, but all that work must have tired him out as he sat sprawled in his chair, legs up, head back, jaw wide open catching flies having a good old snooze.

I tried not to judge them from my western ways, and decided that building relationships would definitely be the way forward with this bunch. And slowly but surely I have got to know them more and more, and I can see now that they do on occasion work hard, that they know how to take it easy, and that they enjoy the opportunity to have a good laugh, which all in all does help the work to move slowly but surely along. This week I've had two marriage proposals, was told I have hair like the queen (hmmmm ok), and spent a good hour watching them dramatically recite lines from Shakespeare and debating whether he actually existed or not.

Back at World Vision, one of my tasks was to go out into the community with my manager and visit some schools to see if we have any super-athletes in the making. All their work in this district is sponsored by South Korea, who had sent out an 'urgent' memo saying they were looking for a sponsored child in Ghana who is a budding athlete, so that they can make a small promotional film about how World Vision has supported them and push it out to South Korean audiences in time for the Olympics (basically marketing to get more sponsors). It all sounds very fancy, and this obviously appealed to my running loving heart, but to be honest, it was a pretty futile search. Not because there is no sporting talent, but because in such a poor and harsh environment there is unfortunately very little room for sports starts to grow and develop. There are fields for football, and volleyball pitches too which I found quite surprising, at some schools, but that's literally the extent of it. Anyone with a running talent would inevitably be deterred by the lack of footwear (trainers are too expensive for many families here so some play sports in bare-feet or flip flops), the searing heat and unforgiving terrain, the lack of role models and the lack of support from teachers / people in the community. Moreover if children are struggling to make it into school because of farming, attending funerals, looking after their siblings, going to fetch water and so on then it's highly unlikely they'll have any time to be going out for a morning run.

On our hunt, we visited a Kindergarten in Googo, a community that has received a lot of support from World Vision, who built the KG here fairly recently. It's a gorgeous building compared to most schools I have seen, and it was a real surprise to find the alphabet and lots of colourful pictures painted on the walls. They even have some roundabouts in their plaground! Luckily the headmaster seems pretty switched on, and is making a really good go of the school which means these wonderful resources are not left to waste away.

We also visited a community that is quite far out, and where World Vision has previously built a health clinic. Whilst we were there some of the staff began explaining that an illegal mining operation has recently sprung up close by, and expressed their concern and worry about what this meant for the community. They explained that in only one month they are already persuading many children to skip school to go and mine there. The men dig huge big pits that the children go into to mine for gold, and which in the rainy season will be a real risk to anyone going by there, as they will fill with water and animals and people are at risk of falling in and drowning. More worrying was hearing about the 'rat holes' that they are digging, where they children crawl through and are at serious risk of being squashed and buried if the hole collapses, which it may. What shocked me most was that one man said he had spoken to some of the mining children, and encouraged them to attend school. But then he received a nasty backlash from their parents, who told him plain and clear that they don't want their children in school, that they are the ones sending their children to mine.

I asked them what kind of response they would get from the police, and was told the track record is not great. A few months ago an illegal mine popped up near Zebilla town and many people were down there mining. The District Assembly kicked up a real fuss about it, and so the police were brought in to patrol the area and make sure it was no longer used. However in the night the police themselves were caught digging in the mines, so you kind of get the picture.

As we were chatting I noticed two boys appear from down in the valley, both covered in mud and one with some fairly sturdy boots on. Our driver went over to chat to them, and later told me that they had said they have found a lot of gold in the area. Each blade (about the same size and weight as a regular razor blade) is work about 65 cedis (£26) which is more than a months wags for some people, and they can find two or three blades in a day. So you can see why some people are prepared to take the risk. I was just thankful that there are many people in the community who disagree with it and would like to do something to stop it. The big question, is how.

With love,

Emma

xxx