Sylvia's Journal

Today is my Irish-twin brother Willem’s birthday. For one month each year we have the same age. That month just ended today. Happy Birthday, gefeliciteerd!

Yesterday was like the Tetris computer game, where different shapes fall from the top of the screen to be stacked right at the bottom of the screen. Good hand-eye coordination and fast reflexes are needed to guide the shapes into the right spot so that they create a smooth surface for the next series of shapes. If you stack them wrong you quickly get into trouble and to the game is over before you scored any points at all. The more progress you make, the faster the pieces come ‘raining’ down. When a layer is completed it disappears and you get bonus points or are promoted to the next level in the game.

We have been playing this game for awhile. At first, back in October, the Tetris pieces came down slowly but they have been speeding up lately. Yesterday the pieces came down fast and furiously as we had to nail down dates, times, venues, participants, hotel reservations, facilitators, meals, materials and more. We also had to throw ourselves into thick traffic to visit most of the key players in this leadership development adventure. I am pleased with the results, the most important of all is that we were received warmly everywhere with more than pledges of support; we got everyone’s full cooperation, their confidence and enthusiasm.

Our partner, the Adventists Development and Relief Agency (ADRA/Ghana) was particularly helpful and became our graceful host, making their office and conference room available as well as a driver and car. We criss-crossed Accra several times, often searching for our destination. Streetnames are absent or hidden and places are referred to as ‘in the neighborhood of this or that landmark.’ For newbies like us this is a big challenge. Even our Ghanaian driver was stumped a few times.

Halfway through the day I discovered that it was Cabul’s 27^th birthday. It was too late for a decorated birthday chair at breakfast but not too late for a celebratory meal in the evening that included a Margarita à la Tante Marie in a little maquis (open air) restaurant that served a variety of African foods from the region. The margarita did not quite fit the local food theme but it did go, belatedly, with the Chimichangas Cabul had for lunch at the US embassy. The embassy also houses USAID and is brand new; a fortress-like structure that sends out one signal that says ‘America is under attack’ and another that says ‘don’t even try.’ It is discouraging to see our tax dollars at work in such a costly, and in my view unproductive and reactive way. I could see ways in which all that money could be used creatively and productively to create more attractive futures for those who willingly blow themselves up in or near our embassies. Cabul and I are on the other extreme of our our tax-dollars-at-work continuum. I’d like to think of us and this leadership program as good and more creative value for money.

My Guinean ex-colleague and good friend Namoudou Keita, who is based in Togo, happened to be in Accra on leave and joined us for dinner. Namoudou is learning English and since Cabul does not speak French, this seemed like a perfect occasion for Namoudou to practice. That was the theory. In practice there was a lot more French than Cabul could handle. It left him eager to learn French.

Back at the hotel we parted from Namoudou and retired to prepare ourselves for our next set of tasks. I tried to catch the occasional wireless signal that wafts in and out of my room. While waiting for the signal to return I prepared for today’s first encounter of the Ghanaian facilitator team; a mishmash of people from public and private organizations who are interested or have been nominated to be part of the core team that will carry the leadership program forward after Cabul and I return to Boston. Back home we will cheer them on and support them using whatever technology is available, Internet, Skype, cellphones and, if necessary, carrier pigeons.

It was a good start of our trip and I kept thinking, “Something must go wrong now; this is too good to be true.” But nothing did. I have never quite gotten off to such a great and fast start elsewhere. There is something unassailable about having the support from the top leadership of all the groups we are working with: the ministry, USAID, ADRA and the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration. It proves the old saying that where there is a will, there’s a way, especially if the will comes from the top. The way forward is right in front of us and wide open.