Peace Building for a Brighter Future

On October 11, 2009, SISS held its conflict resolution workshop entitled “Peace Building for a Brighter Future” in Agbogbloshie. The following is my report of the program and the events leading up to it.

I remember my first few days at SISS as being full of confusion. It was still challenging for me to even find the place, I was unsure of what work I would be doing, and I knew none of the people around me. On my third day, I was given a baffling task: I and two other equally novice interns were to plan, publicizing, and obtain sponsorship for an advocacy program on conflict resolution to be held in the Agbogbloshie slum. Initially, the program was set for September 20, but by the time it came to us it had already been moved to the 27th. Still, that gave us less than two weeks to plan it essentially from scratch.

At this point in my Ghana career, I knew nothing about the slum, the media, or indeed even where to find the information needed to complete such a task. The amount of work, substantial even by my American standard of lightning fast internet and easy transportation, was amplified by the difficulties of information acquisition. However, with heavy support from Naa, our intern coordinator, and our Ghanaian contacts at SISS, we set about tackling the most pressing issue: sponsorship and media.

Targeting big companies such as Fanmilk, Voltic Water, and Vodafone, as well as radio stations like Radio Gold and Peace FM, we began making calls to set up appointments. We were frustrated in our endeavors by our terrible phone connection and our rapidly dwindling credits. After struggling to be understood by receptionists for several hours, we decided that over the next few days we would have to physically go to all of the businesses and drop off our proposal letter. Also, we naively hoped, we may be able to speak to some of the marketing managers of these companies. With these aims, we embarked on a multi-day pilgrimage in Accra.

Armed with a Powerpoint presentation and a sponsorship letter, we met as the sun was shedding its first rays on Tuesday, 15 September. Getting around Accra, however,  is not a straightforward task. Although we had a general sense of where our target companies were located, we had to constantly ask people for directions. Also, our budget did not allow us enough money for transport by taxi. This meant that we had to use trotros and cover a lot of distance on foot. We certainly did not resent this fact, but it made us tired and retarded the pace of our work.

After three days of laborious trekking, we had approached all of our targets for help with our program. Our first couple of meetings were marked by great apprehension on our part—none of us had any experience asking for sponsorships from big companies like this, so we were understandably very nervous. After one or two encounters with apathetic businessmen, however, we gained some confidence, and the rest of our trips were relatively easy. Unfortunately, they were easy because we were so quickly dismissed. It seemed as if no one cared at all about the people of Agbogbloshie or our mission. This reaction was certainly not unexpected, but it was discouraging. At most places, we were to told to just leave our contact information and letter, and that they would be in touch with us shortly; not one of them called us back. Indeed, when we called to follow-up after a few days, we were either rudely dismissed or simply hung up on. After this happened, we had to go ahead with our program without company sponsorship.

With so much uncertainty about how to proceed with the workshop, we decided to move the date back once more to give us time to organize it. We set the final date as  October 11, 2009 and began contacting resource persons, equipment rental companies, and the proprietors of our desired venue. In the weeks leading up to the program, there were times when it seemed like it would be impossible to actually have it. When we went to ask the police to help with the program, for example, we were told that the area is too dangerous for police to travel, and so they would certainly not support our efforts. Furthermore, the police commander advised us against holding a program in Agbogbloshie at all because it would provoke violence; as she sent us on our way, she warned us that if we went into Agbogbloshie, we did so “at our own risk.” Despite her arrogant words of caution, we went ahead with our planning.

Finally, the long awaited day came. Keeping in mind Ghanaians relaxed attitude towards time, we told people to come at 11:00 am when we aimed to begin at 12:00. We had just finished setting up our canopies and chairs when the sun reached its zenith–but still no one had come for the program yet. To make matters worse, the power was out in the whole area. This meant that the sodas we had purchased to hand out to everyone were a refreshing 114 degrees Farhenheit–but worse, it meant that we had no power to run our generator. As the president of SISS rushed to procure a generator, we sat glumly under the shade of our canopies. By this time, church had let out, so at least people had started coming.

Then our absolute worst fear was realized–we found out that our speaker, whom the whole program was centered around, wasn’t going to be there! This meant that we had to think fast about what we would say to the people who were now flowing in in abundance. We decided to have a discussion session with the residents of Agbogbloshie: a sort of forum on the issues of violence. When we eventually started at around 1:45–almost two hours after we had planned to–this was the approach we used. It turned out to be a great success! The attendees were very engaged in the conversation and expressed their concerns openly with SISS. Not only does this help us with future programs, it also makes the people trust us more and makes them more open to our efforts. Some specifics about what was discussed may be the topic of another blog post, but I am just glad that it was so successful in spite of everything.

In the upcoming months, we hope to plan several more programs to advocate for these marginalized people. Since the wretched state of sanitation in the slum was a concern expressed by many residents, we will plan a program that includes both education about good sanitation  techniques and appeals to the government. Although it is imperative to get the people involved in discussions and to inform them of their personal duty to improve their lives, it is just as important to publicize their viewpoints and make them known to government officials. We believe that this holistic approach to advocacy is the most effective means of facilitating change. My vision for the future of our advocacy efforts is a large-scale campaign that will bring the troubling conditions in Agbogbloshie into the hearts and minds of Ghanaian politicians, the Ghanaian public, and perhaps even the international community. It is an ambitious vision to be sure, but one can dream; with enough dedication, anything is possible.