Because I'd had such a good time on our holiday...and kind of came back a couple of days later than planned, it meant I was straight back into it at work, without much time to even think about what to wear! Monday morning at the office and I was straight away invited out to the field to help on some community sensitizations for our communities where the sponsored children live. So I was right back on my moto in no time, whizzing out again to far out communities, and giving talks to crowds of parents in hot stuffy classrooms of local schools.

This time we were there to talk to them about the agreement between World Vision and the communities in which they work. I've probably said before that our office has no less than 3000 sponsored children across the district, in 14 different communities. The way it works is that donors (like you or me, but in this instance from South Korea) sign up to sponsor a child, and the monthly donation they make goes into the development fund for the whole community. It is spent on things like building schools, procuring school desks and materials, training teachers, digging boreholes, vaccinating children against disease and sensitizing communities about a whole range of things (child rights, safe motherhood practices, harmful cultural practices, etc etc).

A lot of people have asked me 'why is it done that way, can't the money go straight to the child?', but if you think about it, there's no point giving money to a child to buy the uniform to go to school if the nearest school is a 5km walk away and the classes take place on the dusty floor underneath the mango tree. This way the whole community develops, rather than just one child, and it's far more sustainable. The children also benefit, as World Vision often organise uniforms, school books, pens, bags and sandals, and things like mosquito nets and soap too. The fact that the whole community benefits means that no child is left out either, as it could cause problems and conflict if some children were receiving uniforms and able to go to school whilst others were not.

I've been super impressed with the Work of World Vision ever since I got here, the way they work, their ethics and values, the quality of their work, and the far reaching and sustainable impact. I really can't fault it! (Except that the staff are pretty stressed as they work so hard!). One of the most striking things has been the connection they have with the communities where they work. Community mobilisation here is never difficult, because the children, families and community members all respect and appreciate this massive NGO, and they don't just turn up because they are expecting to get something out of it either.

So we are currently working our way around each community, talking with the communities about the agreement they have with World Vision, and what both sides need to do to uphold this and make it work. The welcome has been so warm, and the discussions so fruitful, it's been a real pleasure! I have faced some challenges too...heading to some communities on my own means I rely solely on a teacher or local leader to interpret what I am trying to say, which can be a bit confusing at times, especially when I say a sentence of about three words, and they spend about twenty minutes translating (I'm thinking did I really say all that?!).

Also, being white sometimes they get a different idea of why I might be there, as they are used to the local Ghanaian faces of my colleagues. A big advantage of having me around for these meetings too, is that I have sponsored children in the past, so can talk to them from a sponsors perspective about why I sponsored, how rich' I am (they always ask whether all sponsors are super rich!) and about how nice it is to receive letters saying how the child and family is doing and how the community is developing. I also get to answer their questions, which is great as they often don't really understand the concept of donating a monthly amount of salary to a child in another country!

So there I am, moto-ing out and about, chalk in hand ready to draw out my little sketches of bicycles and other random things (see photo) in order to get my messages across and be understood, and armed with songs and dances for the little children (who love love love 'heads shoulders knees and toes' they think it's hilarious when I do it!). It's a really nice part of the job, and hopefully will contribute to the bigger picture too!

With love from Ghana,

Em

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